The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) assures that it will continue to provide assistance to the 96,740 families composed of 512,007 individuals still staying at the 1,158 evacuation centers that remain open in Regions I, III, IV-A, IV-B, V, VIII, and NCR, which were all affected by Typhoon Glenda.

DSWD Secretary Corazon Juliano-Soliman said that a number of the families have returned to their houses since they are pre-emptively evacuated in coastal areas or danger zones.

“We expect some families to remain in the evacuation centers, especially those whose houses were heavily damaged,” said Sec. Soliman.

To date, a total of 7,044 houses were totally damaged and 19,869 houses were partially damaged. These houses were mostly situated along coastal barangays in the affected regions.

Accurate and speedy information

Meanwhile, aside from the relief goods being distributed, DSWD Field Office VIII has also provided non-food items such as tarpaulin and blankets to affected municipalities in Northern Samar and Western Samar.

Five evacuation centers in Tacloban City are now closed, and the 997 families who were evacuated are back in their homes.

In Region IV-B, the local government units (LGUs)  provided food packs, organized community kitchens and distributed assorted food and non-food items to the affected families.

Moreover, the DSWD’s Quick Response Team (QRT) is on a 24-hour operation. The QRT coordinates with the Provincial Social Welfare and Development Offices (PSWDO) and Social Welfare and Development (SWAD) Team Leaders for continuous assessment and needs of affected LGUs.

The Local Chief Executives of the affected LGUs stated that aside from pre-emptive evacuation of the families residing in coastal areas and danger zones, what prevented the loss of lives is the speedy and accurate information relayed to the communities.

Relief and Standby Funds

To date, the DSWD has already distributed a total of 135,508 food packs, 1,924,405 assorted food items and 541,185 non-food items to families in the affected regions.

DSWD Field Offices along the typhoon path were also provided standby funds amounting to 57,463,712.11 that can be used to purchase emergency relief supplies to augment the resources of the LGUs.

As of now, they are conducting rapid assessment, especially in the most affected regions.###