To hasten the distribution of relief goods to families affected by Typhoon Ruby in Eastern Visayas,  the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) established a new hub at the National Food Authority (NFA) warehouse in Borongan, Eastern Samar.

The hub will serve the hard- to-reach areas or isolated island-barangays in the province. Military trucks and choppers will bring goods to these areas.

Initially, food packs good for three days were given to the families in the island villages.

Additional relief goods coming from DSWD-Field Offices XI and CARAGA are expected to arrive in the Tacloban City relief hub anytime today to augment the food packs being repacked there.

In a press conference in Borongan this morning, DSWD Secretary Corazon Juliano-Soliman said that DSWD is now assessing the need for the implementation of Cash-for-Work in the province to speed up the recovery of the survivors.

Likewise, in other regions  which were  hit by ‘Ruby’, DSWD social workers are now conducting rapid damage and needs assessment to determine  other appropriate services that survivors would need to return to normalcy.

As of  press time,  some 7,818 houses  were totally damaged while 34,854 were partially destroyed.

Evacuation centers

To date,  5,890 evacuation centers are still operational in all regions affected by ‘Ruby’ serving 325,463 families or 1.3 million individuals.

DSWD social workers continue to assist local government units (LGU) in managing these centers by distributing relief goods,  providing hot meals, profiling of evacuees, and conducting play therapy for children.

The DSWD-Central Office also deployed staff to complement the Quick Response Teams (QRTs) in Regions IV-A and B, VII and VIII.

 A total of 23 staff will be deployed in these regions to render 24/7 duty on a shifting basis. ###