GENERAL SANTOS CITY (MindaNews / 9 Dec) – The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) in Region 12 is delivering an additional 50,000 family food packs in the next few days to augment the relief operations in areas affected by typhoon “Ruby” in parts of Eastern Visayas.
Dennis Domingo II, DSWD-12 information officer, said their personnel and some volunteers are currently repacking the relief goods, which comprise rice and other food items, at the regional warehouses in the cities of Koronadal and Cotabato.
He said volunteers from the regional chapter of non-government group Kalipunan ng Liping Pilipina or KALIPI, which is a national federation of women’s organizations assisted by the DSWD, are helping the repacking of the relief goods.
Domingo said they also sought help from the Bureau of Fire Protection in Region 12 in the preparation of the family food packs.
“We’re targeting to dispatch these food packs to the typhoon-hit areas within this week,” he said.
DSWD-12 has sent an initial 15,000 food packs to the agency’s relief hub in Tacloban City to assist the ongoing relief operations in the area.
The food packs were part of the assistance prepared by the DSWD-12 in anticipation of the onslaught of typhoon “Ruby,” which devastated parts of the Samar provinces and the neighboring areas.
Bonifacio Selma, DSWD-12’s acting operations head, said DSWD Secretary Corazon Soliman earlier ordered all regional offices in the country to prepare relief packs for immediate dispatch to the typhoon-ravaged areas.
Three wing vans carrying 8,400 food packs left the regional warehouse for Tacloban City last Sunday. An additional shipment containing 6,600 food packs was dispatched to the area on Tuesday.
The relief items also included 200 cases of ready-to-eat food, with each case containing 48 tetra packs of “rice-ulam” like rice-afritada and rice-tuna.
Each standard family food pack contains six kilograms of rice, eight sachets of coffee, eight packs of instant noodles and six canned goods comprising three sardines and three corned beef.
The relief packs are meant to address the immediate food needs of a family of five for two to three days.
Aside from the food packs, DSWD Region 12 director Bai Zorahayda Taha sent two social workers and two project development officers to assist the relief operations and camp management activities in the typhoon-hit areas.
The agency’s debriefing team and other social workers are currently on standby for possible deployment to the area.
