Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Secretary Rex Gatchalian on Monday (Aug. 7) assured President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. that family food packs (FFPs) are continuously being dispatched to flood-affected local government units (LGUs) in Bulacan.

“We have already delivered 75,000 boxes of food packs to different LGUs in Bulacan and another 105,000 food packs are for delivery or pick-up by the concerned LGUs,” Secretary Gatchalian told the President during the situation briefing at the City of Malolos.

In line with the earlier directive of President Marcos, Secretary Gatchalian said that after the initial dispatch of relief goods, the DSWD also hands out cash aid in the form of Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situation (AICS) and Emergency Cash Transfer (ECT) to help in the early recovery of typhoon-affected families.

The DSWD chief also reported to President Marcos that he has already talked to Secretary Jose Rizalino Acuzar of the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD) on how to go about the construction of houses damaged by Super Typhoon Egay.

“Mr. President, I already talked to Secretary Acuzar and he told me that logistics-wise mas mahirap magbigay ng construction materials to the families whose houses were damaged by the typhoon,” Secretary Gatchalian said.

To which President Marcos agreed and told Bulacan Gov. Daniel Fernando and the mayors present that it would be better to hand out cash aid to affected families that they will use to buy the materials to build their damaged houses.

“After the initial provision of relief goods, we hand out cash aid. After that, we help in the recovery of families with damaged houses,” the President said after receiving information that around 96 houses were reported damaged in Bulacan province.

The DSWD chief, meanwhile, directed Asst. Secretary Marlon Alagao of the Disaster Response and Management Group (DRMG) to coordinate with Central Luzon Regional Director Jonathan Dirain for the immediate dispatch of the FFPs to LGUs that requested augmentation in their stocks of food packs.

“We need to beef up our stocks of FFPs in Meycauayan City and the towns of Marilao and Bustos,” Secretary Gatchalian told the DRMG asst. secretary.

Meycauayan City Mayor Henry Villarica and Marilao Mayor Henry Lutao have asked for additional FFPs from the DSWD chief during President Marcos’ visit to Bulacan on Monday.

Secretary Gatchalian told Director Dirian to relay to the National Resource Operations Center (NROC) the requests of Mayors Villarica and Lutao so that the NROC can immediately prepare their FFPs allocation.

Following the briefing, President Marcos Jr. led the distribution of cash assistance to Bulacan residents, as well as to the heavily-affected LGUs that include Malolos, San Miguel, Hagonoy, Pulilan, San Rafael, San Ildefonso, Bustos, Paombong, Calumpit and Bulakan.

During the program, the President handed out various assistance from the DSWD including food packs and cash aid under the Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situation (AICS).

The President also handed out financial aid under the Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced Workers (TUPAD) program and the Integrated Livelihood Program (DILP) of Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE).

The chief executive also distributed assistance from the Department of Agriculture (DA) through certificate for provisions of bags of certified rice seeds, bags of hybrid yellow corn and assorted vegetable seeds for farmer beneficiaries as well as claim stubs for beneficiaries of the Department of Trade and Industry’s (DTI) Pangkabuhayan sa Pagbangon at Ginhawa Program and checks for its Small Business Corporation beneficiaries.

The province of Bulacan suffered massive flooding brought about by the southwest monsoon enhanced by Typhoons ‘Egay’ and ‘Falcon’. On August 1, the provincial government declared Bulacan in a ‘state of calamity’.

According to latest report from the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC), the situation already affected 170,482 families in over 178 barangays.#