DSWD chief sends 100k more food packs to Bicol amid Mayon unrest

Social Welfare Secretary Rex Gatchalian on Wednesday ordered the release of an additional 100,000 family food packs (FFPs) to the Bicol Region for the families affected by Mayon Volcano’s ongoing unrest.

“Nagbigay po ng kautusan si Secretary Rex Gatchalian na dagdagan natin yung ating mga prepositioned goods. Around 100,000 food packs ang ipapadala pa natin to augment these goods that are already prepositioned,” said Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) spokesperson and Assistant Secretary Irene Dumlao in a statement on Wednesday.

(Secretary Gatchalian gave an order to increase our prepositioned goods. Around 100,000 food packs will be sent to augment these goods that are already prepositioned.)

In a separate interview on Thursday, Gatchalian said the DSWD aims to increase the prepositioned FFPs to 350,000 by Sunday or Monday next week. 

Dumlao of the Disaster Response Management Group (DRMG) added that Gatchalian ordered Norman Laurio, regional director of the DSWD’s Field Office (FO) 5 – Bicol Region to distribute ready-to-eat food (RTEF) boxes to the affected families.

The DSWD assured that it has prepositioned food and non-food items in different warehouses in the Bicol Region.

On Tuesday, Dumlao said P132.59 million in stockpiles and standby funds are ready at the DSWD FO 5 to sustain relief operations for families affected by Mayon Volcano’s restiveness.

“Ang DSWD ay naka-alerto dahil sa banta ng bulkang Mayon. Sa katunayan nga po, mayroon tayong prepositioned goods na nasa mahigit 111,000 family food packs, nasa mahigit 16,500 yung ating mga ready-to-eat food boxes, at nasa mahigit 15,000 yung mga non-food items na naka-preposition sa mga warehouses natin dyan sa Field Office 5,” she said.

(The DSWD is on alert because of the danger from Mayon Volcano. In fact, we have prepositioned goods that includes more than 111,000 family food packs, more than 16,500 ready-to-eat food boxes, and more than 15,000 non-food items that are prepositioned in our warehouses at Field Office 5.)

Gatchalian said that during the 2023 eruption of the Mayon Volcano, DSWD was able to assist evacuees for six months due to a “round-robin” scheme of assistance with LGUs.

He said that they are planning for a similar setup this year.

“Noong 2023, 15 days sasagutin ng DSWD, papasok ulit ang province, papasok ang local government units then babalik ulit kami ng 15 days… Yan yung pakay namin ngayon,” he said.

(In 2023, DSWD takes charge of 15 days, then the province and the local government would come in and we’d come back 15 days later… That’s our goal now.)

“Handa naman ang DSWD, pero gusto namin is ano ang magiging sistema. We are fixing the system with the local government units, with the province kung ano ang role ng bawa’t isa,” he added.

(The DSWD is ready, but we want to fix what the system will be. We are fixing the system with the local government units, with the province as to what exactly the role of each one is.)

On Wednesday afternoon, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS) said it recorded more than 130 rockfall events at Mayon Volcano in the past 24 hours.

This was followed by an “ongoing dome collapse pyroclastic density current” captured by PHIVOLCS cameras on Wednesday evening.

Earlier this week, PHIVOLCS placed the Mayon Volcano under Alert Level 3 after the occurrence of pyroclastic density currents (PDC) or “uson.”

Alert Level 3 means a “high level of volcanic unrest” and that the Mayon Volcano is “exhibiting magmatic eruption of a summit lava dome, with increased chances of lava flows and hazardous PDCs or uson affecting the upper to middle slopes of the volcano and of potential explosive activity within days or weeks.” 

Immediately after the imposition of Alert Level 3 over Mayon Volcano, the DSWD FO 5 distributed 163 RTEF boxes to evacuees currently staying at the Tagaytay Elementary School and Bariw Elementary School in Camalig, Albay.

It also set up 25 modular tents at the Buang Evacuation Center and Buang Covered Court in Tabaco City, Albay for evacuees living within the six-kilometer radius permanent danger zone.

Dumlao said Laurio is closely coordinating with the Albay Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management (PDRRM) and local chief executives to find out what other forms of assistance that affected residents may need.

“Kami sa DSWD, mayroon kaming sapat na resources na naka-preposition sa aming mga warehouses,” she said.

(We at the DSWD have enough resources that are prepositioned in our warehouses.)

At present, the DSWD has a total of 558,362 FFPs in its Luzon Disaster Resource Center (LDRC) in Pasay City, Visayas Disaster Resource Center (VDRC) in Mandaue City, and Mindanao Disaster Resource Center (MDRC) in Butuan City. — with Jiselle Anne Casucian/JMA/VBL, GMA Integrated News