DSWD, PPA partner to distribute ready-to-eat food in port areas

The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) entered into an agreement to make ready-to-eat food (RTEF) packs available in seaports nationwide ahead of disasters.

Special Assistant to the Secretary (SAS) Leo Quintilla of the DSWD Disaster Response Management Group (DRMG) said this collaboration will result in faster and more efficient relief response when disasters strike and lead to disrupted sea transport.

“We are going to preposition these products with our agency partner, the Philippine Ports Authority. Remember, when there is a typhoon, some vessels are not allowed to sail… so this will now support the needs of our stranded passengers,” said Quintilla, who is also the concurrent officer in charge of the National Resource and Logistics Management Bureau (NRLMB).

The agreement, which will allow the DSWD to preposition the RTEF in PPA-managed facilities nationwide, was signed by the two government bodies on Friday (June 27).

“This ready to eat food is very important in crisis or emergency situations, because it provides what we call readily available nutrition. And also, when we say ready to eat food, the preparation is minimal. You don’t have to cook anymore… once it’s opened, it’s ready to eat,” Quintilla said.

The RTEF is the latest innovation of the DSWD in the area of disaster response, a product of a year-long preparation of the agency in collaboration with the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) -Food and Nutrition Research Institute (FNRI).

The RTEF contains nutritious pre-cooked meals that will form part of the DSWD’s relief items, which will be distributed to affected families and individuals within 24 to 48 hours after the onset of a disaster.

The DSWD has, so far, produced 120,000 boxes of RTEF, up for prepositioning not only in seaports, but also in other agency warehouses and storing facilities nationwide for distribution to disaster areas, as necessary.

It will scale up the agency’s means to provide appropriate resources to ensure that no one will go hungry in times of disasters, in accordance with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr’s marching order.

“Also, we will use our RTEF for disaster incidents like fires. For example, the house burned down… This product will (help) provide, number one, nutrition; second is the well-being (of the victims) can be uplifted because you have food,” the DSWD official pointed out.