The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) announced today that it has utilized P1.76B of its P2.2B calamity fund to respond to the needs of victims of disasters that occurred this year.
DSWD Secretary Dinky Soliman assured that additional funds will be released by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) to fund on-going disaster response efforts in calamity-hit areas.
The total calamity fund of the DSWD is composed of the P662.5M Quick Response Fund (QRF) and additional releases from the DBM. The additional releases include the P530.1M allocation for the continuing provision of social services and interventions for victims of typhoon “Pablo,” P500M for relief, early recovery, and rehabilitation program in areas affected by calamities and other crises and incidents, and P521.6M to address the humanitarian needs of affected Filipinos from Sabah.
As of October 15, 2013, the total amount of P1.76B has been obligated to address the needs of disaster victims such as: financial assistance (P2.1M), medical assistance (P361,726.90), Emergency Shelter Assistance (P87.6M), relief goods ( P275.5M), cash-for-work ( P267.7M), non-food items (P24.7M), food-for-work (P2.38M), core shelter assistance (P19.3M), modified shelter assistance ( P228.2M), transportation assistance (P1.2M), and food assistance (P2.6M), stockpiling (P11.7M), repatriation of deportees (P3.4M), and other costs for the implementation of the different services (P9.7M).
In addition, the amount was also used to assist victims of various typhoons (P449.9M), armed conflict (P229.06M), the Central Visayas earthquake(P113.9M), and those affected by the Sabah incident (P10.8M).
Due to the urgent need to download funds to disaster-stricken areas such as Zamboanga City, Central Luzon, and Central Visayas, Secretary Soliman said that additional QRF is expected to be released subject to existing pertinent regulations.
“Rest assured that the government will look for ways to continue to address the needs of families affected by disasters,” Secretary Soliman emphasized. ###
