MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) has prepositioned standby funds and stockpile items worth P2.2 billion for communities affected by typhoons.
In a statement on Wednesday, DSWD Director Michael Cristopher Mathay, along with the Office of Civil Defense, assured President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. that the government is fully prepared with sufficient resources for disaster response efforts.
During a sectoral meeting with Marcos, Mathay emphasized the ongoing efforts to support typhoon-affected regions, stating, “Ang response natin sa mga regions na affected ay continuous at tuloy-tuloy. We are aggressively producing our family food packs. Wala pong pause ito. Talagang dire-diretso lang ang production ng mga family food packs.”
(Our response in the affected regions is continuous and ongoing. We are aggressively producing our family food packs. There is no pause. The production is running smoothly without interruption.)
The DSWD’s stockpile includes 1,394,657 family food packs, with 92,302 already allocated for the Cagayan Valley region, which has been hit by Severe Tropical Storm Kristine, Typhoon Marce, and Typhoon Nika.
In addition, the department has P80,262,862 remaining in the nationwide standby fund and P860,611,695 worth of non-food relief items, such as family kits, sleeping kits, hygiene kits, and kitchen kits.
Nika left the country’s area of responsibility at 2 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 12, according to the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa).
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Meanwhile, Pagasa forecasts that Ofel will make landfall on the eastern coast of either Cagayan or Isabela on Thursday afternoon, Nov. 14.
The state weather bureau last spotted the typhoon 485 kilometers east-northeast of Daet, Camarines Norte.
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Meanwhile, a tropical storm bearing the international name Man-yi may enter the Philippine area of responsibility (PAR) on Thursday evening. It will be assigned the local name “Pepito” once it enters PAR.