Over P6.6M worth of assistance provided so far to Rolly victims —DSWD

The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) on Tuesday reported that P6,662,741 worth of assistance has so far been provided to the victims of Super Typhoon Rolly in different regions.

In a report of its Disaster Response Operations Monitoring and Information Center, DSWD said the total assistance came from the agency, local government units, and non-government organizations.

The report covered the affected areas in Bicol Region, Calabarzon, National Capital Region, Mimaropa, Cagayan, Central Luzon, Eastern Visayas, and Cordillera Administrative Region.

Catanduanes Governor Joseph Cua said in an interview on Dobol B sa News TV on Tuesday that the provincial government was not able to have more relief goods prepositioned because they gave away most of them as part of the COVID-19 response.

“Kakaunti lang ang preposition namin ng relief goods dahil po naubos na namin sa COVID-19 preparation at pagbibigay doon sa mga locally stranded individuals,” Cua said.

“Kaya kailangan namin ng tulong ng national agency,” he added.

According to Cua, around 65% of houses made of light materials were damaged due to the typhoon. Around 20% of houses made of strong materials were also damaged.

“Kaya grabe po ang problema natin sa mga nasirang bahay dito sa Catanduanes,” he said.

Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque on Monday said Rolly has “completely isolated” Catanduanes.

Roque said the province is now dependent on airlifted assistance and was only contacted using satellite telephones from the Office of Civil Defense.

Rolly has also left more or less 6,000 individuals in Albay province homeless, Governor Al Francis Bichara said on Tuesday.

"There are about maybe 6,000 homeless because their houses were totally damaged along the coastline, along riverbanks," Bichara said in an interview on ANC.

On Sunday, the DSWD said a total of P884 million worth of standby funds and stockpiles were ready for distribution to assist families and individuals affected by Rolly.

During the National Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council briefing, DSWD Undersecretary Felicisimo Budiongan said a total of P263 million of this amount are standby funds which have already been frontloaded to their field offices.

Meanwhile, the remaining are P579 million worth of stockpiles, composed of P115 million worth of family food packs ready for distribution and P180 million worth of other food items pre-positioned at their field offices.

At the same time, the DSWD also has P279 million worth of non-food items, such of tents, laminated sacks, hygiene kits, sleeping kits and kitchen kits, Budiongan said.

The DSWD has monitored 645,007 people or 160,005 families affected by the typhoon from 2,480 barangays.

According to DSWD, some 269,507 people or 70,576 families stayed in evacuation centers, while 30,052 people or 7,643 families took shelter in other places. —KG, GMA News