DSWD activates quick response teams in areas hit by earthquake

Social Welfare Secretary Dinky Soliman INQUIRER.net FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines — Secretary Corazon “Dinky” Soliman immediately activated, on Tuesday, the quick response teams of the Department of Social Welfare and Development’s regional offices in areas hit by the 7.2 magnitude earthquake and dispatched members to coordinate with local government units to assist disaster victims.

Soliman said the DSWD in Iloilo got P1.97 million in standby funds and P5.9 million worth of family food packs, other food  and non-food items for distribution to affected local government units.

Likewise, the DSWD in Cebu City has P315,069.20 in standby funds and P2.84 million worth of other food  and non-food items for distribution to earthquake victims in the region, according to Soliman.

The DSWD has started processing the replenishment of standby funds amounting to P200,000 for the purchase of additional emergency relief resources when needed, Soliman said.

“We are awaiting reports from our QRT teams. Rest assured that DSWD has enough resources to address the needs of affected families, if any,” Soliman said.

She assured the public that immediate assistance would be given to the victims of a stampede that occurred in Toledo City and Pinamungahan town in the Visayas Region.

The DSWD said the stampede happened during the pay-out of cash grants to beneficiaries of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program in these areas.

Nineteen individuals were injured in the Toledo City stampede while a four-year-old child died and 16 were injured in the Pinamungahan incident, it said.

Soliman said the DSWD in Cebu City also reported that its Crisis Intervention Unit building and the Reception and Study Center for Children (RSCC) were damaged in the earthquake.  The babies in the custody of the RSCC were already transferred to a safe building.

Soliman said she had instructed DSWD regional offices in the earthquake-hit regions to check on all the DSWD centers and institutions to ensure the safety of the residents.

Meanwhile, the DSWD is now processing the release of additional P10 million in standby funds for DSWD-Central Visayas for the projected relief needs of the affected families. Relief goods are now being repacked at the DSWD-National Resource Operations Center (NROC) and at the DSWD-regional office in Cebu, according to officials.

Soliman said the DSWD has prepositioned P89.731 million in standby funds, family packs, other food and non-food items for Bicol, Western Visayas, and Central Visayas, and Davao regions.