ILOILO CITY – Around PHP431.9 million worth of humanitarian assistance was released to more than 858,000 families or over 2.9 million individuals in Western Visayas affected by different calamities this year, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) reported Friday.
In a news forum, DSWD disaster response information and management section head Claud Jan Marquez said that of the total assistance, PHP397 million came from the DSWD, while the rest came from local government units, nongovernment organizations and other partners.
The bulk of the assistance went to families affected by the four weather disturbances that affected the region during the last quarter of 2025.
Of the 241 disasters recorded this year, 80.5 percent were human-induced, and only 19.5 percent were natural hazard incidents.
“For the year, we experienced four tropical cyclones where we were directly hit, and the rest of the second semester of the year were monsoon rains enhanced by tropical cyclones that directly hit Luzon,” Marquez said.
The DSWD also recorded 57,537 partially damaged houses and 2,243 totally-destroyed.
Data presented by the agency showed that PHP191.86 million worth of aid was released to families affected by Tropical Cyclone Ramil; PHP87.25 million to those affected by Tino; PHP4.86 million to Uwan-affected families; and PHP264,802 to families affected by Verbena.
Marquez said the response is still ongoing for those affected by Verbena, as the number of families affected, initially pegged at 14,497 or 44,374 individuals, is expected to increase.
For Ramil, he said the DSWD is working on the completion of the emergency cash transfer to affected families in Capiz.
DSWD already released PHP144.9 million in emergency cash assistance to 25,753 out of the 65,097 families affected by Ramil.
“Currently, it is still ongoing. Hopefully, we can complete the 65,097 target families for payout for the emergency cash transfer for Capiz,” he said.
As of Nov. 26, he reported that DSWD still has PHP78.68 million worth of standby funds and prepositioned relief stockpile.
The standby stockpiles consisted of 18,002 family food packs (FFPs) in the DSWD regional warehouse in Oton, Iloilo, and 48,939 FFPs in 39 prepositioned sites in different local government units in the region.
Additionally, 516 ready-to-eat food boxes are at the regional warehouse, and 1,966 are in 39 prepositioned sites.
“Our replenishment coming from our third-party private suppliers from Luzon and our production hub in Cebu City is ongoing,” Marquez said. (PNA)