The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) announced on Sunday that it has P3 billion in standby funds and a prepositioned relief stockpile ready for calamities nationwide this year.
“This will be used to respond to the different requests of calamity-affected local government units (LGUs),” DSWD spokesperson Irene Dumlao stated in an interview with Super Radyo dzBB. She noted that over three million family food packs are stored in DSWD warehouses across the country, as well as in LGU and private organization warehouses.
In a separate interview, the Office of Civil Defense reported that over 3,700 families from the Ilocos Region (Region I), Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR), and Cagayan Valley (Region II) have been affected by Typhoon Bising (international name: Danas). Dumlao confirmed that DSWD has already provided aid to the affected residents, particularly in Benguet and Ilocos Sur.