MANILA, Philippines — Social Welfare Secretary Esperanza Cabral Friday directed its Mindanao regional office to procure food supplies worth P2.5 million to feed hundreds of thousands of evacuees after the United Nations World Food Program (UN-WFP) suspended its relief operations due to the series of bombings in Mindanao.

“The relief and food assistance for the internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Mindanao will continue even if the UN-WFP announced the suspension of its delivery of food to the evacuees,” Cabral said in a statement.

The food supplies should be ready for distribution this month, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) added. The DSWD’s Field Office XII was tasked to procure relief.

Cabral had earlier said that the government would take over the food relief distribution carried out by the World Food Program if in the next two weeks, it would not resume its missions.

The UN agency suspended its operations due to concerns over the safety of its staff after successive bombings rocked Iligan City, Jolo, and Cotabato City.

Cabral said Friday that the UN’s work “complements” the government’s relief work for the displaced families through the DSWD.

The DSWD said that UN-WFP commodities were subject to “DSWD endorsement for duty and tax-free entry into the country.”

“The relief and food assistance being undertaken by the UN-WFP is implemented under the Emergency Operations-Assistance to Conflict-Affected Mindanao (EMOP-ACAM), a joint project of DSWD and UN-WFP,” the statement read.

“The UN is not operating independently in their relief operations in Mindanao. In fact, we have deputized them to undertake the relief and other assistance to the affected areas in Mindanao through a letter of understanding,” Cabral explained.

The initial agreement to jointly provide relief for families displaced by the internal fighting in Mindanao ran from June 2006 to June 2007.

Cabral said that in December last year, the DSWD “worked hard” to extend the World Food Program’s operations as the two agencies’ contribution to attaining peace in Mindanao “by addressing the food security needs of the people living in the affected areas.”