Some 100,125 family food packs are available at the Field Offices of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) in Regions I, II, and III and the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR), ready for distribution to local government units along the path of Tropical Storm Egay.

To ensure that families affected by the tropical storm will immediately receive assistance, DSWD Secretary Corazon Juliano-Soliman assured that there are also family food packs prepositioned at the local level aside from those at the regional offices and at the DSWD National Resource Operations Center (NROC) in Pasay City.

“Prepositioning of relief supply at the provincial and municipal levels is already a regular disaster preparedness measure that we undertake to ensure that assistance is not delayed,” Sec. Soliman said.

Aside from the food packs, a standby fund amounting to P12.3 million in the four DSWD-Field Offices is also ready to be used for the purchase of emergency relief supplies.

In Regions IV-A and IV-B, V, and VI that are not along the path of TS Egay but are experiencing heavy rains, the DSWD-Field Offices also allocated 146,850 food packs including some 58,597 packs that are stored at NROC.

To date, members of the DSWD Quick Response Teams continue to remain on alert status to assist LGUs in disaster operations and management of evacuation centers.

As of press time, a total of 4 families with 19 persons evacuated in Benguet and Kalinga in CAR due to landslides.

In Region I, a total of 1,603 families in the Provinces of La Union, Pangasinan, Ilocos Sur, were reported evacuated but were still being validated by the Regional Response Cluster.

Likewise, DSWD received reports involving 34 families or 157 persons who were affected by a tornado and big waves in Region VI.

Sec. Soliman once again urged the residents in areas affected by TS Egay to heed the announcement of their local authorities to ensure their safety. ###