DSWD's dispatched food packs for Carina relief ops top 1.2M

MANILA – The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) has so far distributed 1,263,469 family food packs (FFPs) more than a week after Typhoon Carina and enhanced southwest monsoon or habagat brought massive floodings in Metro Manila and nearby provinces.

"This is one of the largest releases in one of the fastest and biggest disaster relief operations conducted by the agency," DSWD Secretary Rex Gatchalian said in an earlier ambush media interview.

DSWD spokesperson and Assistant Secretary for Disaster Response Management Group Irene Dumlao on Monday said the speedy delivery of over one million FFPs "is a milestone in the department."

"This is a result of the DSWD's current capacity and capability that have improved over time in order to meet the challenges of climate change," she said in a news release.

She said 544,436 boxes of FFPs were dispatched to Central Luzon; 250,814 to the National Capital Region (NCR); 198,897 to Bicol; 140,996 to Calabarzon; 77,002 to Mimaropa; 47,198 Ilocos Region; and 4,126 to the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR).

The FFPs, she added, were either prepositioned in the warehouses of the agency's Field Offices, released to local government units (LGUs); or currently being delivered/picked up by LGUs.

Dumlao said seven regions in Luzon bore the brunt of the twin weather disturbances.

"We have learned our lessons from previous disasters. This is why we continue to preposition relief supplies even before a disaster hits an area, which is also in line with the marching order of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. to Secretary Gatchalian, to ensure that we can readily release these to affected families when needed," Dumlao said.

She said this strategy of prepositioning relief goods in the agency's warehouses and the LGUs' storage facilities is one of the reasons for the speedy release of FFPs to the affected areas.

Aside from that, she said "early disaster risk assessment" conducted to project the possible needs of families and communities also helps a lot to speed up relief operations.

"With the assessment, we had an idea on the number of FFPs to be delivered," Dumlao added.

The DSWD-DRMG official assured that the production of FFPs continues in all DSWD Field Offices to replenish the dispatched relief supplies and to ensure that there would still be enough resources to draw from at any given time.

The volunteers were instrumental in the continuous production of food packs.

"In line with the instruction of President Marcos to ensure that the country is always ready in times of disasters, the DSWD, under the leadership of Secretary Gatchalian, introduced this pioneering strategy called the Buong Bansa Handa (BBH) program," she said.

The BBH establishes two parallel supply chain mechanisms for disaster preparedness and response which enhance the capacity of the Department in meeting the needs of affected families in various disaster-stricken areas.

The first mechanism features a national and local government-driven supply chain that improves the production capacities and processes of the DSWD's NROC in Pasay City, the Visayas Disaster Resource Center (VDRC) in Cebu, and the warehouse and storage facilities across the 16 DSWD Field Offices.

The second mechanism is about the Department forging of partnerships with established large and small groceries, supermarkets, manufacturers, and distributors intended to leverage on their technical expertise and resources to create a private sector-driven supply chain.

Under these partnerships, the DSWD aims to achieve a more effective and reliable supply chain, ensuring a comprehensive coverage and timely assistance to affected families in all disaster-affected areas.

Dumlao said the innovative strategies employed by the DSWD enabled the agency to promptly deliver the much-needed aid for the families and communities affected by the recent major twin disasters. (PNA)