- May 14, 2024
- Posted by: humanitarianweb
- Category: Humanitarian News
The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), through its Field Office-6 (Western Visayas), has extended more than Php64 million worth of assistance to El Niño-affected families in the region, an agency official said on Tuesday (May 14).
“Through our FO 6, the province of Negros Occidental was provided with 37,367 boxes of family food packs (FFPs), followed by Antique with 33,054 boxes, Iloilo with 18,880, Aklan with 10,707, Capiz with 1,809, and Guimaras with 1,000 boxes,” Asst. Secretary for Disaster Response Management Group (DRMG) Irene Dumlao said.
Asst. Secretary Dumlao, who is also the agency’s spokesperson, said the DSWD is intensifying its efforts to swiftly dispatch FFPs in the region based on the request of local government units (LGUs).
“We have to double our efforts as the Department of Agriculture reported that Western Visayas is among the 12 most affected regions by the dry spell. To date, we have prepositioned Php11.9 million worth of FFPs in Region 6,” Asst. Secretary Dumlao pointed out.
As of press time, some 367,809 families or 1,360,623 individuals have been affected by the drought in Region 6.
The DSWD Western Visayas regional office currently maintains more than Php96.7 million worth of stockpiles of relief supplies and standby funds ready to be used for disaster operations.
The Disaster Response Management Division of FO-6 continues to coordinate with other LGUs for the immediate release and distribution of relief supplies in their localities. #