Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Secretary Rex Gatchalian said on Friday (February 7) that the new disaster response vehicles and equipment of the agency will greatly boost the DSWD’s efficiency to respond during disasters and calamities.
“Kadalasan nakakaligtaan yung kabilang side ng disaster response, paano natin madadala roon yung tulong. Marami nga tayong tulong na pwedeng ibigay pero importante yung paano natin madadala yung tulong sa pinakamabilis na paraan at pinaka-efficient na paraan,” Secretary Gatchalian said in his speech during the ceremonial inauguration of the new vehicles and equipment at the National Resource Operations Center (NROC) in Pasay City.
The equipment and vehicles include 15 mobile kitchens; two mobile water treatment units; two water tanker trucks; two forklifts; and one reach truck.
These new sets of equipment are part of the third batch of the DSWD’s overall logistics capacity building package, which Senator Joel Villanueva worked for inclusion in the General Appropriations Act (GAA).
“These are the fruits of Senator Villanueva’s labor during the budget season, advocating for the capacity building of the service providers,” Sec. Gatchalian said as he expressed his gratitude to the legislator.
Senator Villanueva, for his part, said that with the new equipment and vehicles, ‘DSWD’ will now mean “diretso serbisyo, walang delay” because of the additional improvements in the logistical capabilities of the Department.
Last year, Senator Villanueva also helped in the DSWD’s acquisition of 16 mobile command centers (MCC), 11 delivery trucks, and forklifts to ensure the fast delivery of assistance to disaster-affected locals.
Among the private sector officials present at the ceremonial launch were United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) Country Director Regis Chapman, and representatives from the agency’s suppliers from Wet Industries Incorporated; Autokid Corporation; Areza Corporation; and MCX Corporation.
The DSWD officials who attended the activity include Undersecretary Diana Rose Cajipe of the Disaster Response Management Group DRMG); Asst. Secretary Irene Dumlao of the DRMG; Asst. Secretary Ulysses Hermogenes of Community Engagement; Special Assistant to the Secretary (SAS) for DRMG Leo Quintilla, who is also concurrent Officer-in-Charge (OIC) of the National Resource and Logistics Management Bureau (NRLMB); and Director Michael Cristopher Mathay of the Disaster Response Management Bureau (DRMB). (AKDL)
