LAOAG CITY—The Department of Social Welfare and Development has released about ₱17.6 million worth of relief goods to help aid in the recovery efforts of typhoon victims in the region.
This came shortly as President Rodrigo Duterte and some of his cabinet members met with Ilocos Norte officials at the Laoag International Airport on the evening of October 23.
“Validation of the list of affected families and project proposal preparations in coordination with Local Government Units (LGUs) are currently being undertaken,” said DSWD regional director Marcelo Nicomedes Castillo.
These are needed to facilitate the recovery programs such as emergency shelter assistance, core shelter assistance Program, food/cash for work and the like.
To date, the DSWD National Resource Operations Center (NROC) downloaded at least 40,000 family food packs and other non-food items during the height of disaster operations. These were forwarded to satellite warehouses in Sta. Barbara, Rosales and Alaminos City in Pangasinan; Santa, Ilocos Sur; and Laoag City, Ilocos Norte for easier access to LGUs.
Prior to the onslaught of the typhoon, Mr. Castillo assured the availability of goods and readiness of response teams in the Provincial Operations Offices (POO).
As of this posting, the DSWD Regional Field Office monitored about 52,840 families or 266,218 persons affected in 989 barangays, leaving 12,423 partially-and 1,036 totally-damaged houses.
Apart from the distribution of relief goods, President Duterte vowed to help in particular the children of farming families here who were heavily devastated by typhoon Lawin and ensure that their tuition fees will be shouldered by the government. (DSWD news)