Photo courtesy of DSWD Field Office 1
The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) in the Ilocos Region has prepositioned 143,705 food and non-food relief items for local governments affected by severe weather.
As of noon Tuesday, the stockpile included 113,280 family food packs, 13,109 boxes of ready-to-eat meals, 12,699 non-food items and 4,617 one-liter bottles of drinking water.
The supplies were stored in the DSWD regional warehouse, two satellite facilities and 26 relief prepositioning sites across the region.
Each family food pack contains six kilograms of rice, canned tuna, corned beef, sardines, instant coffee and cereal.
The non-food supplies include family, hygiene, kitchen and sleeping kits.
The agency also maintained more than Php 2.5 million in standby funds for disaster response.
Under the Philippine Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act, local governments serve as the first responders and are expected to provide immediate assistance using their available resources.
DSWD Ilocos Region Director Marie Angela Gopalan said the department would augment food and non-food supplies once local stocks were depleted, while remaining ready to assist affected communities as needed.