The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) has provided at least P39.8 million worth of assistance to families severely affected by Typhoon Tino (international name Kalmaegi) which battered the Eastern Visayas region last week.
The immediate and substantial aid package was rapidly deployed to address the mounting crisis following the storm’s devastation, ensuring a quick influx of resources to the most impacted communities struggling to recover.
This financial and logistical assistance was mobilized across the six provinces of the region—Eastern Samar, Samar, Northern Samar, Leyte, Southern Leyte, and Biliran—to augment the strained resources of 82 local government units (LGUs). The DSWD reported the relief effort was designed to provide crucial supplementary support where local supplies were depleted or overwhelmed by the sheer scale of the disaster.
Typhoon Tino, which crossed Eastern Visayas on November 4, left behind a trail of destruction that displaced hundreds of thousands of people. The official report confirms that the typhoon’s onslaught affected a staggering 228,201 families, totaling 804,961 individuals who were in immediate need of shelter, food, and basic necessities in the storm’s aftermath.
The core of the DSWD’s relief operation focused on distributing essential provisions, primarily food and non-food items.
The agency reported the distribution of 59,427 family food boxes and 3,067 ready-to-eat food packs to ensure immediate sustenance. Additionally, 3,524 non-food items, which typically include essentials like hygiene kits and sleeping mats, were delivered to households whose possessions were lost or destroyed.