Gov’t to give flood victims cash, food for work

AFP PHOTO

The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) will be handing out food or cash to victims of recent typhoons who help in the cleanup and repair of their communities.

The DSWD’s cash-for-work or food-for-work programs will apply to displaced families in Metro Manila, the Cordillera Administrative Region, Ilocos, Cagayan Valley and Central Luzon.

Those included in the program can get food or cash based on the prevailing regional wages in their areas, in exchange for doing community projects such as the repair and reconstruction of damaged houses and community facilities.

They will also be paid for cleaning up their communities and collecting garbage, among others.

Also included in the food- or cash-for-work programs are families in evacuation centers who are required to maintain cleanliness in their premises.

Social Welfare Secretary Corazon Soliman said her department was coordinating with local government units, nongovernment organizations and other concerned agencies for the proper implementation of the recovery and rehabilitation plan for families affected by Typhoons “Pedring” and “Quiel.”

The DSWD said that as of October 10, it had provided P66.67 million worth of relief assistance to families in Luzon.

Of this amount, more than half, or P34.16 million, went to the Central Luzon, the hardest-hit region.

The DSWD noted that towns in Bulacan, Nueva Ecija, Tarlac, Pampanga and Zambales provinces had been badly affected. Far-flung coastal areas in Pampanga also continue to remain submerged in floodwaters.

Additional family packs would also be delivered to Pampanga and Bulacan.

Evacuation centers, numbering 79, are still open in various parts of Luzon, according to the DSWD.

The DSWD said it was still accepting volunteers at its office at the National Resource Operations Center on Chapel Road, Pasay City, to help repack relief goods.

As added assistance to families affected by the typhoons, the government’s health insurance agency announced it was extending to one month the deadline for quarterly payments of members under the Individually-Paying Program (IPP) from hard hit regions.

In an advisory, the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) said IPP quarterly-paying members in these areas would be given up to October 31 to pay their premiums.

The extension would apply to members from the Ilocos region, Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon, the Cordillera Administrative Region and Metro Manila, according to PhilHealth president Dr. Rey Aquino.

The deadline for third-quarter payments for this year was supposed to be on September 30, three days after Pedring devastated major parts of Luzon. With a report from Jocelyn Uy