The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) said it is aiming to bring its prepositioned family food packs (FFPs) to 2.5 million boxes nationwide and achieve another all-time-high record.
This is in line with the directive of DSWD Secretary Rex Gatchalian to optimize the agency’s preparedness for disasters and emergencies.
Assistant Secretary Irene Dumlao of the DSWD’s Disaster Response Management Group (DRMG) said that while the DSWD has already clinched a record-breaker with its 2.1 million food packs currently prepositioned across agency storage facilities nationwide, the Department aims to produce more to further stabilize its supply chain.
“Actually we even need to increase that to 2.5 million (FFPs) because we’re taking advantage that there are not many major disasters happening or affecting our country so that the DSWD can prepare,” Dumlao said.
Based on the latest report of the DSWD’s Disaster Response Operations Management, Information Communication (DROMIC), a total of 142,280 boxes of FFPs are currently stored at the National Resource Operations Center (NROC) in Pasay City and 135,168 FFPs are at the Visayas Disaster Resource Center (VDRC) in Mandaue City in Cebu province.
Meanwhile, a total of 262,066 FFPs are available at warehouses managed by DSWD Field Office (FO) 6 – Western Visayas and FO-7 – Central Visayas and concerned LGU-managed facilities amid ongoing relief efforts for families still reeling from Mt. Kanlaon’s volcanic unrest.
As for other food and non-food items (FNIs), the NROC, VDRC, and DSWD Field Office warehouses have abundant supplies worth P925 million.
The DSWD spokesperson further assured the public that the DSWD remains committed to ensuring the swift and seamless delivery of needed relief supplies even in times of unprecedented emergency or disaster.