Volunteers and staff from the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Field Office II continue to repack relief goods for distribution to families affected by Typhoon ‘Ferdie’ in Batanes.

The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) assures the public that the rehabilitation and assistance for Typhoon ‘Ferdie’ survivors will continue despite the arrival of Tropical Storm ‘Helen’ in the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR).

Yesterday, September 23, the DSWD Disaster Response Assistance and Management Bureau (DReAMB) and DSWD Field Office-II held a video conference to discuss the provision of Emergency Shelter Assistance (ESA) and cash-for-work (CFW) to 2,241 families with damaged houses.

Aside from the continuing relief assistance distribution, the province of Batanes also started providing galvanized steel sheets to affected families for house repairs.

Social welfare officers are also continuously conducting Psychosocial Support Processing (PSP) to affected families in several barangays in Itbayat to help them recover from the psychological stress and trauma that they experienced after the typhoon onslaught.

Meanwhile, DSWD Secretary Judy M. Taguiwalo confirms that preparations for ‘Helen’ are now ongoing following the blue alert status issuance of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC).

“We assure the public that the Department is doing all the preparatory measures for ‘Helen’ including repacking of additional relief goods and intensifying our coordination will local government units in Northern Luzon where the storm is expected to hit,” said Sec. Taguiwalo.

The Department maintains a total of P 801,555,717.72 standby funds and 452,284 Family Food Packs (FFPs) available for distribution. ###