MANILA: The government assistance extended to the families affected by earthquakes in Mindanao and weather disturbances in the Visayas reached PHP870 million, Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) spokesperson Romel Lopez said Monday.
‘The DSWD, through its Field Offices in Eastern Visayas (Region 8), Soccsksargen (Region 12), and Caraga Region, has provided family food packs (FFPs) worth over PHP284 million, non-food items amounting to over PHP6 million,’ Lopez said in a news release.
The concerned DSWD field offices had also rendered financial aid reaching PHP578 million under the Emergency Cash Transfer (ECT) and Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situation (AICS), for some 150,356 disaster-affected families.
Lopez, also the agency’s Assistant Secretary for Strategic Communications, said the ECT is an adaptive strategy for bridging the gaps between immediate disaster relief, humanitarian response, and early recovery support through outright cash aid for disaster-affected families in areas
under a state of calamity.
He said the AICS serves as a social safety net or a stop-gap mechanism to support the recovery of individuals and families from unexpected crises such as illness or death of a family member, natural and man-made disasters, and other crisis situations.
The DSWD’s response efforts in the disaster-hit regions in Visayas and Mindanao started in the fourth quarter of 2023.
In Northern Samar, the DSWD provided over PHP540 million worth of humanitarian aid to 130,082 families affected by the shear line and low pressure area that hit the Visayas region last November 2023. The assistance consisted of 215,829 FFPs, 76 non-food items, and financial aid worth over PHP394 million.
For the families affected by the November 2023 magnitude 6.8 earthquake in Sarangani province, the agency distributed 36,110 FFPs and 3,825 non-food items worth PHP145 million, and PHP113 million financial assistance for 13,583 recipients.
In Caraga, the families displaced by the December 2023 magnitude 7.4 earthq
uake in Surigao del Sur received PHP184 million worth of aid that included 168,772 FFPs and 37 non-food items, and PHP70 million financial assistance for 6,691 beneficiaries.
‘We assure the public that while our Field Office personnel have already concluded their response efforts in the disaster-struck localities, they will continue to work closely with concerned local government units to ensure the continuous recovery of the affected families,’ Lopez said.
Source: Philippines News Agency