Photo courtesy of Liza Agoot/PNA
More than 87,000 families across the Cordillera received government relief in August as successive tropical cyclones and the southwest monsoon brought prolonged rains to parts of the region.
Benguet received the largest allocation of food assistance from the Department of Social Welfare and Development at Php 29.77 million. Abra received Php 17.49 million, while Php 4.02 million went to Baguio City, with Mountain Province and Ifugao also receiving supplies.
The assistance came as Benguet, Abra and Baguio endured weeks of heavy rainfall. Classes were suspended Friday in the three areas amid an orange rainfall warning indicating potentially dangerous rainfall conditions.
Overall, the DSWD-Cordillera distributed Php 56.83 million worth of humanitarian supplies during August. These included family food packs, ready-to-eat meals, drinking water, temporary shelters, hygiene and kitchen kits, sleeping kits and laminated sacks.
The agency provided the supplies to reinforce relief resources available to local governments and organizations assisting affected communities. Apayao, meanwhile, received support through the DSWD’s Cagayan Valley regional office because of its geographic proximity.
When assistance reported by local governments and partner nongovernment organizations was included, the humanitarian response monitored by DSWD-Cordillera reached Php 80.27 million. The agency said the actual amount could be higher because some locally provided assistance was not reflected in its records.
Relief efforts covered evacuees as well as families who temporarily moved in with relatives or friends and households otherwise affected by the severe weather. Social workers also conducted welfare checks and psychosocial interventions to determine residents’ immediate needs and help ease the strain of displacement.
Similar welfare sessions were provided to DSWD personnel deployed in affected communities, particularly those working long hours under difficult weather conditions. The agency said checking on both displaced residents and frontline workers formed part of its broader response to the prolonged rains.