The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) assured the public of its readiness to bring swift aid to local government units (LGUs) that will be affected by Tropical Depression ‘Salome,’ the latest weather disturbance to enter the country.
“The DSWD, especially through the Disaster Response Management Group (DRMG), always sees to it that we are updated of the latest weather disturbance, its track and areas that are at risk as it traverses our country,” Assistant Secretary Irene Dumlao of the DRMG said on Wednesday.
Dumlao said this has always been the position of the agency even as it focuses on responding to other areas hit by recent disasters such as typhoons and earthquakes.
According to Dumlao, the DSWD has close to 2 million boxes of family food packs prepositioned in its warehouses nationwide, ready to be tapped to make way for timely relief operations.
“These stockpiles in our more than 1,000 warehouses are prepositioned nationwide, so our countrymen can be assured that wherever this TD Salome brings heavy rains, we will be able to quickly deliver relief items for them,” she said.
The DSWD also maintains non-food items (NFIs) amounting to P863 million, such as blankets, family, hygiene, kitchen kits and modular tents that can be provided to families who will be advised to take temporary shelter in evacuation centers.
Dumlao said tight coordination between the DSWD and concerned LGUs is among their priorities, in line with the directives of Secretary Rex Gatchalian.
The DSWD, as a member-agency of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC), will be coordinating for any crucial update on the impact of ‘Salome,’ particularly with the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA).
As of 11:00 a.m. of October 22, TD Salome was located east of Taiwan inside the Philippine area of responsibility.
“We are urging our kababayans to be vigilant and heed all orders from their LGUs for their safety,” Dumlao said.
