QUEZON CITY, May 7 -- The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) announced today that it has enough stockpile of relief goods and standby funds to ensure that the residents in areas projected to be affected by Tropical Storm ‘Dodong’ will have enough supplies.
As of 5 a.m. today, ‘Dodong’ has entered the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR) east of Visayas.
To date, 439,808 family packs amounting to P153.77 million are available in all DSWD-Field Offices nationwide, including some 91,667 family packs stockpiled at the National Resource Operations Center in Pasay City. These are ready for distribution, when needed, to local government units that will be affected by the tropical storm.
On the other hand, a total of P67.1 million standby funds is also available in all DSWD-Field Offices for the purchase of emergency relief supplies. A part of its disaster preparedness, all DSWD disaster teams are on standby, ready to be activated and deployed to disaster areas.
Meanwhile, the DSWD also continues to provide assistance to the internally displaced families as a result of the continuing armed conflict in Mindanao which has already affected a total of 35,697 families or 177,456 persons. As of May 6, some 33 evacuation centers remain open housing 8,101 families or 40,435 persons. Twenty nine of the evacuation centers are located in five towns in Maguindanao and in four towns in North Cotabato. (DSWD)