DSWD: P117M in aid given to families affected by Mayon unrest

The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) on Monday said it has distributed over P117 million worth of humanitarian assistance so far to families affected by Mayon Volcano’s ongoing unrest.

In a statement, the DSWD said it extended food and non-food items, psychosocial interventions, cash-for-work (CFW), and emergency cash transfer (ECT) aid to internally displaced persons (IDPs).

“Secretary Rex Gatchalian made an instruction yesterday na dapat agad ma-replenish itong food packs na nailabas po natin sa ating mga warehouses kasi ‘yan po ang utos ng Pangulong Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. na tutukan natin ang Bicol Region at tiyakin na mayroon tayong sapat na resources na pwede natin ipamahagi sa mga maapektuhan nitong abnormal activities ni Mt. Mayon,” said DSWD Assistant Secretary and spokesperson Irene Dumlao.

(Secretary Rex Gatchalian made an instruction yesterday that the food packs brought out of our warehouses should be replenished. Because this was the order of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to focus on the Bicol Region and to have sufficient resources that we could distribute to those affected by the abnormal activities of Mayon.)

READ: Mayon unrest to persist for weeks — PHIVOLCS

As of May 3, 6 p.m., the DSWD provided 71,153 family food packs (FFPs), 7,634 non-food items (NFIs), and 1,402 ready-to-eat food (RTEFs) to the affected families.

The DSWD maintains more than 1.6 million FFPs, of which, more than 270,532 FFPs are available at the DSWD Field Office 5 – Bicol Region.

For cash aid, Dumlao said the DSWD has disbursed over P45 million to more than 3,487 farmers and IDPs whose livelihoods were temporarily halted because of Mayon Volcano’s pyroclastic activity.

“Ang ginawa po kasi natin sa mga farmers na lumikas doon sa evacuation centers ay, it’s either nagtanim po sila sa mga vacant plots sa compound o sila ay nagpastol ng kanilang mga alagang hayop. Kaya doon sa labor na ginagawa nila, nagbigay tayo ng tulong pinansiyal using cash-for-work muna. Ito ay upang matiyak na itong mga farmers natin ay patuloy na makakapag-hanapbuhay,” she said.

(What we did with our farmers who went to the evacuation centers was, either they planted crops at the vacant plots of the compound or they would let their livestock graze. For the labor that they did, we gave them financial assistance using cash-for-work. This is to ensure that our farmers can continue to earn a living.)

For the ECT, she said the cash aid would address other immediate needs of IDPs that are not covered by food and non-food assistance.

“This is more than P10,000 per family, para po matulungan tustusan ang iba pang mga pangangailangan nitong ating mga internally displaced persons. Alam naman natin na aside from food, may iba pang mga food and non-food items na mga requirements ang ating IDPs kagaya po ng gamit, gatas ng mga bata, supplements and of course mga iba pang pangangailangan,” Dumlao said.

(This is more than P10,000 per family, to help cover the other needs of our internally displaced persons. We know that aside from food, there are other food and non-food items that our IDPs need like clothes, milk for children, supplements, and other needs.)

The DSWD is also working with concerned local government units (LGUs) in monitoring the condition of 1,444 families or 5,459 individuals currently sheltered in 14 evacuation centers in Camalig and Malilipot towns and in Ligao City and Tabaco City in Albay.

“Nakipag-ugnayan din tayo sa lokal na pamahalaan para matiyak na may sapat na ventilation at cooling areas sa ating evacuation centers sapagkat medyo mainit ang panahon at iniiwasan naman po natin ‘yong heat exhaustion at ang pagkakaroon ng iba't-ibang sakit, bunsod ng mataas na temperature,” she added.

(We are also coordinating with our local governments to ensure that there is sufficient ventilation and cooling areas in our evacuation centers because of the hot weather. We are also trying to prevent heat exhaustion and other diseases.) — JMA, GMA News