More than a week since the simultaneous onslaught of Typhoon Carina and Habagat on July 23, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) has already released 1,263,469 boxes of family food packs (FFPs).

“This is one of the largest releases in one of the fastest and biggest disaster relief operations conducted by the agency,” DSWD Secretary Rex Gatchalian said in an earlier ambush media interview.

Affirming the statement of the DSWD chief, Asst. Secretary for Disaster Response Management Group (DRMG) Irene Dumlao said on Monday (August 5) that the speedy delivery of these more than 1 million boxes of FFPs is a milestone in the Department.

“This is a result of the DSWD’s current capacity and capability that have improved over time in order to meet the challenges of climate change,” Asst. Secretary Dumlao, who is also the DSWD spokesperson, pointed out.

As of August 5, the 3:30 pm consolidation of the total FFPs showed that a total of 544,436 boxes were dispatched to Central Luzon; 250,814 to the National Capital Region (NCR); 198,897 to Bicol Region; 140,996 to CALABARZON; 77,002 to MIMAROPA; 47,198 Ilocos Region; and 4,126 to the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR).

These FFPs were either prepositioned in the warehouses of the agency’s Field Offices, released to local government units (LGUs); or currently being delivered/picked-up by LGUs.

The DSWD spokesperson said the seven regions in Luzon bore the brunt of the twin weather disturbances.

“We have learned our lessons from the previous disasters. This is why we continue to preposition relief supplies even before a disaster hits an area, which is also in line with the marching order of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr to Secretary Gatchalian, to ensure that we can readily release these to affected families when needed,” Asst. Secretary Dumlao said.

The DRMG Asst. Secretary explained that this strategy of prepositioning relief goods in the agency’s warehouses and the LGUs’ storage facilities is one of the reasons for the speedy release of FFPs to the affected areas.

Aside from prepositioning, the DSWD Field Offices also conducted early disaster risk assessment to project the possible needs of families and communities.

“With the assessment, we had an idea on the number of FFPs to be delivered,” Asst. Secretary Dumlao said.

The DSWD-DRMG official said the production of FFPs continues in all DSWD Field Offices in order to replenish the dispatched relief supplies and to ensure that there would still be enough resources to draw from at any given time.

“At the height of Carina and Habagat, the Department called for volunteers to help repack relief supplies at the National Resource Operations Center. They were instrumental in the continuous production of food packs,” Asst. Secretary Dumlao said, citing their invaluable contributions in the agency’s disaster relief operations.

Disaster-affected individuals were also tapped to help in the repacking of food packs compensating them through the agency’s Cash-for-Work.

Buong Bansa Handa: An innovative strategy

“In line with the instruction of President Marcos to ensure that the country is always ready in times of disasters, the DSWD, under the leadership of Secretary Gatchalian, introduced this pioneering strategy called the Buong Bansa Handa (BBH) program,” Asst. Secretary Dumlao said.

The BBH establishes two parallel supply chain mechanisms for disaster preparedness and response which enhance the capacity of the Department in meeting the needs of affected families in various disaster-stricken areas.

The first mechanism features a national and local government-driven supply chain that improves the production capacities and processes of the DSWD’s NROC in Pasay City, the Visayas Disaster Resource Center (VDRC) in Cebu, and the warehouse and storage facilities across the 16 DSWD Field Offices.

For the second mechanism, the Department forges partnerships with established large and small groceries, supermarkets, manufacturers, and distributors to leverage on their technical expertise and resources to create a private sector-driven supply chain.

Under these partnerships, the DSWD aims to achieve a more effective and reliable supply chain, ensuring a comprehensive coverage and timely assistance to affected families in all disaster-affected areas.

“The DSWD was able to produce and deliver the more than one million FFPs because of the BBH which ensured the availability of supplies at any given time,” the DSWD spokesperson pointed out.

Asst. Secretary Dumlao said the innovative strategies employed by the DSWD enabled the agency to promptly deliver the much-needed aid for the families and communities affected by the recent major twin disasters. #