With Typhoons Ferdie and Gener hitting the country almost simultaneously, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), together with the other members of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC), continues to closely coordinate with local government units (LGUs) along the typhoons’ path to ensure immediate response to families that will be affected.

In Basco, Batanes where signal number 4 was hoisted over the province due to Typhoon Ferdie, the  DSWD disaster team in the area reported that one family with  four persons pre-emptively evacuated.

Likewise, 16 passengers  have been stranded in Aparri, Cagayan bound for Calayan Group of Islands. The stranded passengers sought refuge in the homes of their friends/relatives and to the bunk house of the Municipality of Calayan.

Disaster teams of the DSWD-Field Office II continue to render 24-hour duty  to monitor the possible effects of Typhoon Ferdie.

Meanwhile, DSWD-Field Offices along the path of Typhoon Gener are also conducting preparatory activities to include daily monitoring of local weather condition; continuous provision of Disaster Assistance Family Access Card (DAFAC) to requesting LGUs; continuous repacking of goods at the field offices; on-going replenishment of prepositioned family food packs to LGUs; conduct warehouse assessment at LGU level to determine readiness and capacity for stockpiling of relief goods; identifying possible relief hubs; and close coordination with the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) for any warning signal updates for monitoring purposes and response mechanism in areas that will be affected.

DSWD Secretary Judy Taguiwalo urged families especially in high risk areas to heed the announcements and warnings of their local authorities for their own safety.

The Secretary assured that the DSWD Central Office and all its Field Offices have enough relief supplies with some P861,494,815.58 standby funds and P171,306,818 worth of  family food packs. ###