The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Field Office III is already processing the financial assistance to be given to the families of the casualties of Typhoon Santi which heavily battered Central Luzon last week.

DSWD Secretary Corazon Juliano-Soliman said that the families will receive P10,000 each as aid.

She personally spearheaded on Monday, October 14, the distribution of relief packages in the municipalities of Cabiao and Jaen, where she also visited the wake of Irish Balingit.

Balingit, who is one of the three casualties in the province, would have turned 16 that day.

A huge mango tree fell on their house when Balingit and her family were sleeping during the onset of the storm.

Meanwhile, based on the 6 am, October 18 DSWD monitoring report, 42 evacuation centers  remain open in Nueva Ecija, Pampanga, Tarlac, Zambales and Bulacan serving  1,605 families with 6,931 persons while 16,061 families or 80,757 persons who are are outside evacuation centers are also still being provided with relief goods.

A total of P25,297,222.10 worth of relief assistance was provided to the affected families coming from DSWD (P13,411,170.18), local government units (P11,546,051.92) and non-government organizations as well as other government organizations (P340,000.00).

Around 109,652 houses were damaged with 19,589 totally destroyed and 85,566 partially damaged. ###