Navy helps in replenishing DSWD warehouses with relief packs

ILIGAN CITY — Civilian personnel of various government agencies and soldiers have been unloading some 358 tons of relief supplies from the Navy’s BRP Davao del Sur that docked at the port here on Monday.

According to Northern Mindanao Civil Defense director Antonio Sugarol, the goods come from the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) central office. These will be temporarily stored at the agency’s warehouse in Dalipuga village.

Some will eventually be distributed to the families who were affected by the series of floods and landslides in various parts of the region several weeks ago due to heavy rains.

Martesha Maive Veloso, Disaster Response Management Information Officer of DSWD-10 said there are still 233 families with 710 individuals who are still in 21 evacuation centers in the provinces of Misamis Occidental and Misamis Oriental.

Sugarol thanked the Army’s 4th Infantry Division, 2nd Mechanized Infantry Brigade, 55th Engineer Battalion, Iligan City Police Office, Iligan City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office, Lanao del Norte Coast Guard Station, and Civil Defense Community Unit of Iligan for providing personnel and vehicles for the unloading operation.

Veloso said the cargo consisted of some 41,788 food and non-food items from the agency’s National Resource and Logistics Management Bureau.

These include 33,302 family food packs, 3,000 hygiene kits, 2,186 kitchen kits, 3,000 sleeping kits, and 300 family tents, Veloso said.

Part of the load will replenish the stocks of the Caraga region which were used in the relief distributions in December and January.

Veloso said “prepositioning of family food packs are being done in the far-flung provinces of Region 10 in preparation and anticipation of any disaster.”

The unloading and transport of the goods are expected to be completed by Friday.

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