As Typhoon Maysak (local name: Typhoon Chedeng) approaches the Philippine Area of Responsibility, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) said that it is ready to augment the resources of local government units (LGU) and assist in disaster relief operations in areas that will be affected by the weather disturbance.
To date, the Department has a total of P271.74 million worth of food packs, other food and non-food items ready for distribution to LGUs.
It also has P19.9 million standby funds for the purchase of emergency relief supplies.
Apart from these, the Department has also prepositioned family food packs in various municipalities and cities forecasted to be along the path of the typhoon.
In Ilocos Region, DSWD-Field Office I has prepositioned the following number of food packs :
Pangasinan
4,000 packs in Bani
4,000 packs in Rosales
3,000 packs in Dagupan City
2,000 packs in Sta. Barbara
2,000 packs in Manaoag
Ilocos Sur
3,000 packs in Vigan City
2,000 in Santa
2,000 packs in Cervantes
Ilocos Norte
3,000 packs in Laoag City
3,000 packs in Burgos
In Cagayan Valley, some 31, 244 family food packs have been prepositioned in the provinces of Cagayan, Isabela, Quirino, and Nueva Vizcaya. Likewise, 50 sacks of NFA rice and 336 boxes of assorted canned goods have been prepositioned in Batanes
In Central Luzon, 1,500 family food packs have been prepositioned in the town of Aurora and 1,680 food packs in the Reception and Study Center for Children (RSCC) in Lubao, Pampanga.
“The prepositioning of goods at the LGU level would ensure faster delivery of relief supplies to families that will be affected by the weather disturbance,” DSWD Secretary Corazon Juliano-Soliman said.
Sec. Soliman has also ordered all disaster teams to be on alert status to monitor the situation, to coordinate for pre-emptive evacuations, and to assist local government units in disaster operations.
DSWD-Field Offices situated along the typhoon path are also on standby to repack goods to ensure that relief supplies are readily available.
Meanwhile, the National Disaster Risk Reduction Council has activated the following clusters to provide emergency response and humanitarian assistance to regions that will be affected by the typhoon:
- Search, Rescue and Retrieval (Department of National Defense-Armed Forces of the Philippines)
- Health (Department of Health)
- Camp Coordination and Camp Management (DSWD)
- Emergency Telecommunications (Office of Civil Defense)
- Logistics (OCD)
- Management of the Dead and Missing (Department of the Interior and Local Government)
- Food and Non-Food (DSWD)
- Education (Department of Education)
- Law and Order (DILG-Philippine National Police)
- International Humanitarian Relations (Department of Foreign Affairs). ###
