DSWD: Over P900M worth of goods, standby funds ready for Odette victims

The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) said Saturday it has more than P900 million worth of available stockpiles and standby funds to aid those affected by the onslaught of Typhoon Odette.

In an interview on Dobol B TV, DSWD spokesperson Irene Dumlao said the agency has prepositioned family food packs and other non-food items prior to Odette’s arrival.

“Ito naman po ay readily available for distribution as part of our resource augmentation mandate sa mga local government unit,” Dumlao said.

(These are readily available for distribution as part of our resource augmentation mandate to local government units.)

“Ang ating mga naka-preposition na goods gayun din ang ating standby funds ay nagkakahalaga ‘yan ng mahigit P900 million. ‘Yan ang resources na nasa National Resource Operations Center-Central Office and regional field offices,” she added.

(Our prepositioned goods as well as standby funds are worth over P900 million. Those are the resources in the National Resource Operations Center-Central Office and regional field offices.)

The DSWD official said more than P1.5 million worth of assistance have been distributed by the local government units.

Meanwhile, she said the DSWD’s augmentation is readily available for LGUs needing additional resources.

The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council on Friday reported that a total of 84,674 families or 338,664 individuals have been evacuated in Mimaropa, Regions 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, and Caraga.

Meanwhile, Dumlao said that there are over 77,000 families or more than 280,000 individuals in 1,600 evacuation centers in Regions 5, 6, 8, 11, Caraga, and Mimaropa. —KG, GMA News