The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) immediately extended P615,000 in relief support to the local government unit (LGU) of Manay, Davao Oriental, following the magnitude 7.4 and 6.8 earthquakes that occurred on Friday.
“Immediately after the earthquake, DSWD Secretary Rex Gatchalian instructed our Davao Region Field Office (FO) and directed the quick response team (QRT) to prepare personnel and logistic support for deployment to the affected areas,” Social Welfare Assistant Secretary and co-spokesperson Juan Carlo Marquez said.
The initial assistance consisted of 50 family food packs (FFPs) to be cooked into hot meals through the Davao Region FO’s mobile kitchen, as well as 606 boxes of Ready-to-Eat Food (RTEF) for distribution to the internally displaced persons (IDPs).
The FOs’ mobile command center (MCC) has already been deployed to Davao Oriental, according to the DSWD co-spokesperson.
According to the October 10 situational report of the DSWD’s Disaster Response Operations Management, Information and Communication (DROMIC), there are 15,868 families or 78,430 individuals affected by the earthquake in Davao Oriental. A total of 1,583 families or 7,915 individuals are staying in five evacuation centers set up by the LGU.
The DSWD co-spokesperson said their Davao Region FO is closely coordinating with the Manay LGU to get more information and get an initial assessment of the situation.
“We expect the number of affected families to increase as we progress in the assessment of the situation,” Marquez said, assuring Davaoeños that aside from the initial assistance provided, the agency is ready to respond to their needs.
