On Thursday, Feb 15, the Social Welfare Department promised to help families struggling with El Niño’s impact, confirming they are prepared to support them.
DSWD Undersecretary for Disaster Response Management Group (DRMG) Diana Rose Cajipe said the department will ensure food security by providing family food packs to the areas affected by El Niño.
“Malaking tulong po ang mga naka-preposition natin na goods. We are talking about the food packs, but aside from that, the regional offices ng DSWD are open to any referrals for those already affected by the El Niño,” Cajipe said.
Leo Quintilla, who works as a top aide for the Secretary of DRMG and also heads the Bureau of National Resource and Logistics Management, stated that throughout the nation, there are a total of 849 warehouses.
“What is important right now is we are doing the relief prepositioning agreement with our local government units. We also provide capacity building sa ating mga partners to ensure na ma-maintain natin yung quality of our food and non-food items na naka-preposition sa kanilang mga warehouses (We also provide capacity building to our partners to ensure that we maintain the quality of our food and non-food items prepositioned in their warehouses),” Quintilla emphasized.
El Niño-affected families to receive emergency food packs
The activities to develop our capability involve checking expiry dates, storing food properly, and quality checks to make sure the food given to families hit by disasters is safe to eat.
In addition to arranging emergency food supplies, Romel Lopez, DSWD’s Assistant Secretary for Communications, announced a partnership with the Department of Agriculture and the UN World Food Program. They’re launching Project LAWA to improve water access in targeted areas of Ifugao, Antique, and Davao de Oro.
Earlier, an official of the Department of Agriculture (DA) announced that someone suggested to President Ferdinand ”Bongbong” Marcos Jr. that rice instead of money be given to the beneficiaries of the 4Ps.
DA Undersecretary Roger Navarro said that giving rice instead of money to the beneficiaries of the 4Ps may help lower the rice inflation rate.
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