More Typhoon Ompong evacuees are already returning home but the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) assured that distribution of relief assistance will continue for the affected families including those who have returned home and those in hard-to-reach areas.

As of 11 AM today, 112,890 families or 427,326 persons in Regions I, II, III, CALABARZON, MIMAROPA, Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR), and National Capital Region (NCR) who fled to evacuation centers (EC)  during the onslaught of the typhoon have already returned home.

Meanwhile, some 1,977 families or 7,103 individuals are still staying in 87 ECs in Regions III, CALABARZON, and CAR. Most of these are in Central Luzon with 53 ECs, housing a total of 1,619 families or 5,690 individuals.

“Our help does not stop when evacuees return home. We continue to reach out to our kababayans, especially those who have been severely affected by ‘Ompong’ to help them bounce back to their normal lives,” DSWD Secretary Virginia N. Orogo said.

The DSWD Field Office (FO) in Region I has started to conduct a rapid damage assessment and needs analysis (RDANA) of houses in Ilocos Region, which was placed under the state of calamity during the onslaught of the typhoon.

As of the latest report of the FO, there are 16,808 partially- and 800 totally-damaged houses reported throughout the region.

Damaged houses that will be assessed will be included in the DSWD’s Emergency Shelter Assistance (ESA) program. Under ESA, households with partially-damaged houses will receive P10,000, while those with totally-damaged houses will be given P30,000 cash assistance.

Meanwhile, members of the Municipal Action Team of DSWD Field Office II yesterday reached Sitio Naruang in Barangay Lanna, the farthest and hardest-to-reach sitio in the Municipality of Enrile, Cagayan to distribute additional family food packs (FFPs) to affected residents.

Irene Galindon, 73, a resident of the Sitio, was thankful for the assistance that she received. She said that her family has been living with scarce resources since the onslaught of the typhoon.

“Maski ararayu yaw sitio mi, magayayak kami nga inyan nga nakakadek nga unfun nga nagafu kang DSWD (Even though our place is far, we are glad that DSWD was able to reach it to give us assistance),” she said.

FO II prepositioned a total of 300 food packs in Enrile before the landfall of ‘Ompong’ and augmented an additional 500 FFPs after the typhoon.

In Central Luzon, the Department’s Field Office  III distributed additional 300 food packs to affected families in Nueva Ecija over the weekend. Sec. Orogo led the distribution of the assistance to the residents, which was conducted simultaneously with the payout of the social pension of indigent seniors in the province.

To date, the DSWD has so far provided a total of P70,215,632.05 worth of assistance to ‘Ompong’-affected families and individuals.

Assistance to Benguet landslide victims

In CAR, the Department’s Field Office in the region continues to assist the families affected by the landslide incident in Itogon, Benguet.

The FO has recently opened its training center for the bereaved families so they could have a place to stay while they are waiting for the remains of their loved ones to be recovered.

According to the report from FO CAR, there are  36 individuals who are still missing due to the landslide.

“Aside from providing a place to stay, our Field Office CAR is also providing the grieving families staying in the center with food and psychosocial interventions. We want them to be comfortable and safe, as we are aware that what they are going through a very difficult time right now,” Sec. Orogo said. ###