AT least P1.7 billion standby funds await victims of calamities, said the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) as Severe Tropical Storm Florita barrels the Philippines.
“Sa ngayon ay nasa 1.7 billion [pesos] po ‘yung mga naka-standby namin na worth ng ayuda,” DSWD spokesperson Asec. Romel Lopez told ABS-CBN’s TeleRadyo.
Included in the said allotment is the agency’s quick response funds (QRF), Lopez said.
Some 480,000 family food packs — which cost P283 million — have been readied for distribution, he also said.
“So ito pong DSWD Central Office, kasama po iyong aming field offices, tsaka siyempre po ‘yung National Resource Operations Center, nandito po ‘yung repacking natin ng relief goods, ay pinaghanda na po. On red alert na po kami.”
(DSWD’s Central Office including its field offices and the National Resource Operations Center where repacking is being done, are now ready. We’re on red alert.)
Lopez added that following the July 27 Luzon earthquake, the DSWD was able to “preposition” its assets there.
“Ang maganda lang po dito, since nung July 27 earthquake sa northern Luzon, ay nakapag-preposition na po tayo ng mga assets po natin ng mga family food packs po natin at ganun din naman ng QRF (quick response funds) sa Region 1,” he said.
(What’s good after the July 27 earthquake in northern Luzon is that we have prepositioned our assets such as family food packs and QRF in Region 1.)
“‘Yung atin namang prepositioned food packs diyan at QRF ay augmented na rin po. So mas madali po natin itong mau-utilize at madi-distribute sa ating mga kababayan.”
(We have augmented the prepositioned food packs and QRF there. So it will be utilized and distributed easily to the families.)
Florita made landfall in Maconacon, Isabela at 10:30 a.m., PAGASA said. It will move northwestward and is forecast to cross the northern portion of Isabela and mainland Cagayan.
Storm signals 1 up to 3 have already been raised over many areas in Luzon.
So far, more than 500 people in Northern Luzon have been evacuated due to Florita, the state disaster response agency said.
