PALO: The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) in Eastern Visayas is beefing up its stocks of family food packs (FFPs) inside the regional resource operation center and 60 other warehouses in preparation for rainy days.
Over 50,000 FFPs from the DSWD main office will arrive in June to augment the stocks of the region ahead of the forecasted La Niña phenomenon, said Marie Nelle Lumagsao, DSWD disaster response management division information officer.
‘The additional supply from our central office is on top of the 50,000 plus FFPs stored in our warehouses. For La Niña, we are assured that there are at least 100,000 plus food packs,’ Lumagsao told the Philippine News Agency during a warehouse visit on Tuesday.
The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) earlier said there is an increasing probability that La Niña will occur from June to July.
A La Niña Watch was raised by the state weather bureau as the probability for the phenomenon to occur in th
e next six months is 55 percent.
Citing experiences, Lumagsao said there is a high demand for relief items during rainy days since massive flooding affects thousands of families.
During the prolonged dry season from January to May 2024, the DSWD just released 4,605 FFPs, way below the 68,623 FFPs distributed in January to May 2023, where most of the region experienced heavy rains.
Currently, the region has 91,071 FFPs inside the regional warehouse in 62 areas in the provinces of Northern Samar, Samar, Eastern Samar, Leyte, Southern Leyte, and Biliran. About 50,000 of these FFPs are stored at the DSWD facility in Palo, Leyte.
‘The purpose of prepositioning goods is to augment the supply to the nearest affected area. This is to make sure that affected families immediately get help,’ Lumagsao added.
Each FFP contains six kilos of rice, four cans of corned beef, four cans of tuna flakes, two cans of sardines, five sachets of coffee, and five sachets of cereal drinks.
The DSWD has also prepared 35,573 non-fo
od items worth PHP51.09 million.
Under the Philippine Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act of 2010, the local governments are the first responders, and the DSWD is tasked with augmenting the response efforts after disasters.
Source: Philippines News agency
