DSWD needs more people for N. Cebu aid distribution

WHILE workers of other government agencies have gone on Christmas break, those at the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) 7 have continued working.

The regional social welfare office have stopped sending food packs to typhoon survivors in Eastern Visayas, because there is already a repacking center there, but they are preparing for their second wave of distribution for northern Cebu families.

The holiday celebration has also affected the number of volunteers for their repacking at Cebu International Convention Center (CICC).

“Most of the volunteers before were students and now they are in their homes for their Christmas break,” said Aileen Lariba, information officer of DSWD-7.

The DSWD-7 targets to repack 3,000 to 5,000 food packs a day so they can send to all the municipalities that were affected by supertyphoon Yolanda in northern Cebu.

Lariba is encouraging people who have extra time to volunteer in repacking the food packs.

“We will continue to provide them (with relief goods) until such time that they have fully recovered,” Lariba added.

Aside from the typhoon victims in northern Cebu, the DSWD-7 is also sending food packs for the victims of the October 15 7.2-magnitude earthquake in Bohol.

Considered the strongest typhoon that visited the Philippines, supertyphoon Yolanda damaged houses, government buildings and commercial establishments in 14 municipalities in northern Cebu. /Correspondent Michelle Joy L. Padayhag