DSWD extends P682-M assistance to Marawi residents

FILE PHOTO. Many residents displaced by the Marawi war still receive relief goods from the government, checking if their names are on the list posted at a DSWD office. —JEOFFREY MAITEM

At least P682 million in cash and goods had already been distributed to residents displaced by five months of war between terrorists and government forces in Marawi City, according to the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).

The allotted budget for assistance was P3.5 billion, which Social Welfare Undersecretary Emmanuel Leyco, in a press conference, said the department hoped to use up by yearend for the needs of 77,170 displaced residents.

Citing DSWD data, Leyco said that as of November, at least P128 million in cash and more than P500 million in food and nonfood items had been distributed in Marawi.

The DSWD, he said, continues to coordinate with local governments and other government agencies for the implementation of aid and relief programs for 4,671 residents still staying in 67 evacuation centers and residents who had started to return to Marawi.

Aside from aid, the department was also implementing cash-for-work and other programs, Leyco said.

Leyco said the DSWD, however, had run into what he said were challenges in providing relief to the people of Marawi. These included verifying identities as some people were not on the “master list” of Marawi residents, people being registered as residents of multiple villages and some people with falsified identities.

Utilities, like water and power supply, were either damaged or destroyed while some residents continued to be apprehensive about their security, Leyco said.

He said the DSWD hoped to set up a satellite office in Marawi City for a more efficient delivery of assistance packages.