Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Secretary Rex Gatchalian accompanied President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr on Saturday (October 26) as the chief executive personally visited and checked on the condition of evacuees staying at the Naga City Hall in the aftermath of Severe Tropical Storm (STS) Kristine in the Bicol region.

In his brief address to the Kristine-hit families, the President vowed that the national government will be keeping a close watch to their needs, with the DSWD leading the provision of family food packs (FFPs) and disbursement of cash aid to assist them towards their early recovery.

“Sa ngayon, asahan ninyo basta’t nandito ang pamahalaan, tuluy-tuloy ang aming pagtulong sa inyo, andito si Mayor (Legacion), Si Secretary Rex, at mga cabinet members para marinig sa inyo kung ano ang mga pangangailangan niyo,” President Marcos told the evacuees.

Secretary Gatchalian reported to the President that the agency is preparing to send a total of 35,000 boxes of family food packs on top of the 5,000 FFPs that were already distributed to affected families across Naga City, which was among the hardest-hit in the region.

“When Naga City Mayor (Nelson) Legacion and I met yesterday, the agreement was to raise it all the way to 35,000 family food packs kasi may strain na sa city hall,” Secretary Gatchalian informed the President in a situation briefing at the Naga City Hall held right after his visit to the evacuees.

The DSWD chief said he is just awaiting the official list of severely-affected families from the local government unit (LGU) of Naga City, and will soon start the distribution of cash assistance.

For Albay, the agency has already provided over 30,000 boxes of FFPs and is also processing additional requests for food packs as well as the request of 50,000 FFPs that came from Camarines Sur, Secretary Gatchalian said.

Despite the growing number of reported affected families across the Bicol  region, Secretary Gatchalian pointed out that enough relief supplies can be pulled out from nearby warehouses, and from the Visayas Disaster Resource Center (VDRC) in Cebu.

This was the agency’s counter approach to the problem imposed by the routes that were cut off due to the infrastructural damage brought about by the weather disturbance, according to the DSWD chief.

“Mr. President we are still reducing all our existing stockpiles, but admittedly it is now running low. But given nag-usap kami ni Mayor (Legacion), marami tayong trucks ng stocks sa Milaor eh. What we’ve done is we were starting to pull out of Cebu… We’ll keep on supplying the region from our packaging center from Cebu,” Secretary Gatchalian said.

 

Tagalog Version

PBBM tiniyak sa mga Bicolano ang walang-patid na suporta mula sa pamahalaan; DSWD chief at PBBM binisita mga evacuees sa Naga City Hall

Personal na binisita nina Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Secretary Rex Gatchalian at Pangulong Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr ngayong araw October 26) ang kalagayan ng mga evacuees na pansamantalang nanunuluyan sa Naga City Hall matapos ang pananalasa ng bagyong Kristine.

Sa pagbisita ng Pangulo, sinabi nito na ang national government sa tulong ng DSWD ay patuloy na imo-monitor ang kalagayan ng mga pamilya at indibidwal na naapektuhan ng bagyo.

“Sa ngayon, asahan ninyo basta’t nandito ang pamahalaan, tuluy-tuloy ang aming pagtulong sa inyo, andito si Mayor (Legacion), Si Secretary Rex, at mga cabinet members para marinig sa inyo kung ano ang mga pangangailangan niyo,” sabi ni Pangulong Marcos.

Inireport naman ni Secretary Gatchalian sa Presidente na nakahandang magpadala ang ahensya ng 35,000 kahon ng family food packs bukod pa ito sa 5,000 FFPs na nauna nang ipinamahagi sa ibat-ibang lugar sa Naga City.

“When Naga City Mayor (Nelson) Legacion and I met yesterday, the agreement was to raise it all the way to 35,000 family food packs kasi may strain na sa city hall,” sabi ni Secretary Gatchalian sa kanyang report sa Pangulo.

Sabi pa ng DSWD chief inaantay lang aniya nito ang official list ng mga severely-affected families mula sa local government unit (LGU) ng Naga City, para sa agarang pamimigay ng cash assistance.

Dagdag pa nito, sa Albay nakapag paabot na ang ahensya ng mahigit 30,000 kahon ng FFPs . Pinoproseso na rin ang nga karagdagan pang request para sa food packs at request ng 50,000 FFPs mula naman sa Camarines Sur.

Sa kabila ng kaliwa’t kanang request para sa diatribution ng FFPs ay tinitiyak ng DSWD na sapat ang relief supplies na maibibigay nito sa mga nasalantang pamilya.

“Mr. President we are still reducing all our existing stockpiles, but admittedly it is now running low. But given nag-usap kami ni Mayor (Legacion), marami tayong trucks ng stocks sa Milaor eh. What we’ve done is we were starting to pull out of Cebu… We’ll keep on supplying the region from our packaging center from Cebu,” sabi pa ni Secretary Gatchalian.#