DSWD thanks #ReliefPH volunteers

“We thank everyone who volunteered their time and energy  to help us repack relief goods to be distributed to disaster victims. Your time is the most precious gift you have given those in need this holiday season,” DSWD Officer-in-Charge (OIC) Emmanuel Leyco said as the year ended.

The relief goods will be distributed to internally displaced persons (IDPs) from Marawi City as well as to families affected by Tropical Depression Urduja (Kai-tak) and Severe Tropical Storm Vinta (Tembin).

The recent storms caused heavy flooding and landslides in the Visayas and Mindanao regions, displacing thousands.

“The DSWD has a mechanized production system which automates and streamlines the production of family food packs (FFPs), but since we need to continuously respond to the needs of hundreds of thousands of families affected by the series of calamities that struck the country, we have to augment the production of our relief resources through manual repacking,” Leyco said.

The number of volunteers who went to the warehouse to help in repacking activities averaged 600 people a day, according to Sophie Mendiola of the Production Management Division of NROC.

On December 26, the DSWD was able to produce 41,600 FFPs with the help of the volunteers.

The agency targets to produce 80,000 FFPs a day for its relief operations. 

Assistance to evacuees

Nearly 22,000 families or about 107,000 people are still staying in 192 evacuation centers in regions MIMAROPA, IX, X, XI, XII, and ARMM due to Vinta,  according to the latest report of the DSWD Disaster Response Assistance and Management Bureau (DReAMB).

So far, the agency and local government units (LGUs) have provided a total of P16,392,250 worth of assistance to affected families and individuals. Of the amount,  P11,560,510.00 came from DSWD, while P4,831,740 came from LGUs.

The DSWD continues to coordinate with the local government units of the affected cities and municipalities to monitor the status of families who are still staying in the evacuation centers for the provision of relief assistance. 

Meanwhile, the humanitarian agencies of the United Nations  said they are prepared to help the government address urgent needs in areas that were hit by the recent disasters. (WATCH: What Duterte promised mayors in Vinta-hit Lanao del Norte)

#ReliefPH continues

The DSWD is still calling for additional volunteers.

“We are still calling for volunteers to help us in our repacking activities. Right now, we are in need of night shift volunteers who will render their time within 8:00 pm to 8:00 am,” Leyco said.

Interested groups and individuals may coordinate with Mendiola through the following contact details:

• Landline: 553-9864
• Mobile: 09307669595

You can also sign up here if you or your organization wish to help in packing additional relief goods.

Agos, powered by eBayanihan is also crowdsourcing information about ways to to help the victims of the disasters.

• #ReliefPH: Help victims of Urduja
• #ReliefPH: Help victims of Vinta

If you know of an ongoing relief operation or an organization preparing to respond, please provide us with information via the following communication channels:

• Message us via our MovePH Facebook page
• Tweet us via on our Agos or Rappler Twitter Accounts
• Send an email to move.ph@rappler.com
• Post directly on the Agos Alert Map
• Inform any of our partners above
• Post in the comments section below

Please include the hashtag #ReliefPH in all your posts.– Rappler.com