Photo 1: DSWD Field Office V Regional Director Arnel B. Garcia hands-over a DSWD Family Food Pack (FFP) to Tabaco City Mayor Krisel Lagman-Luistro during the ceremonial turnover of additional relief assistance to cities and municipalities affected by the volcanic activities of Mayon in Albay. Also in the photo is DSWD-Disaster Response Assistance and Management Bureau (DReAMB) Assistant Director Carlos C. Padolina (leftmost).
Photo 2: An evacuee at Nabonton Elementary School in Ligao City beams as she carries boxes of relief goods provided to her by the local government unit. Ligao City has received additional 1,900 FFPs from the DSWD during yesterday’s turnover ceremony.

The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) has turned-over additional relief assistance to cities and municipalities in Albay that have been affected by the volcanic activities of Mayon.

The additional relief aid was sent to the province through the caravan, “Hatid-Tulong sa Apektado ng Mt. Mayon Eruption”,  organized by the DSWD to mobilize logistical resources for the delivery of additional augmentation assistance to Mayon-affected local government units (LGUs).

The first of a series,  the caravan was conducted last Tuesday, Feb. 27,  with non-government organizations (NGO) and member- agencies of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) joining the convoy.

A fleet of 21 trucks from the DSWD and the participating agencies arrived in Albay yesterday, carrying a total of 24,844 Family Food Packs (FFPs).

On the same day, DSWD Field Office (FO) V Regional Director Arnel B. Garcia led the ceremonial turnover of the relief assistance to local executives of the Municipalities of Guinobatan (3,100 FFPs), Camalig (2,000 FFPs), Daraga (4,200 FFPs), Sto. Domingo (6,400 FFPs), and Malilipot (700 FFPs), and the Cities of Ligao (1,900 FFPs), Tabaco (2,300), and Legazpi (3,200). FO V has already completed the provision of the food allocation for the Municipality of Bacacay for the month of February.

The ceremonial turnover was held at Albay Sports Complex in Guinobatan.

Mayor Krisel Lagman-Luistro of Tabaco City expressed her gratitude to the relief efforts of the DSWD and the government as a whole, as said efforts eased the burden of local executives  when it comes to adequately and efficiently responding to the crisis.

The LGUs will manage the delivery of the relief aid to the open evacuation centers in their respective cities and municipalities for subsequent distribution to the affected families.

For his part, DSWD Officer-in-Charge (OIC) Emmanuel A. Leyco thanked the NGOs and NGA-members of NDRRMC who participated in the humanitarian caravan.

“We appreciate the logistical support provided to us by our fellow disaster-response agencies and our partner-NGOs in delivering much-needed relief assistance to Albay. This initiative just proves that we can accomplish great tasks if we continue to work hand-in-hand,” OIC Leyco said.

The DSWD is targeting to deliver a total of 458,250 additional food packs to Albay through the caravan, which will continue until all the required food and non-food items have been sent to the affected LGUs in the province. ###