Pili: The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) 5 (Bicol) has sent 3,200 ready-to-eat food packs to DSWD 8 (Eastern Visayas) in response to the impacts of Severe Tropical Storm Crising and the enhanced southwest monsoon. In a phone interview, Claudio Villareal, chief of DSWD-5's Disaster Response Management Division, emphasized that the augmentation support is part of the agency's synchronized relief operations.
According to Philippines News Agency, the inter-regional support highlights DSWD's strengthened coordination and commitment to effective disaster response, with DSWD-Bicol acting as a strategic logistical hub between Luzon and the Visayas. Villareal stated that its geographic location facilitates the swift delivery of essential aid to hard-hit areas across the archipelago. This initiative aligns with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.'s directive to enhance the country's disaster preparedness and response systems, ensuring that no Filipino is left behind during disasters.
Each ready-to-eat food pack contains meals designed to sustain internally displaced persons and stranded passengers temporarily housed in evacuation centers and transit terminals. The RTEF packs were dispatched from the DSWD-5 warehouse located in Pili, Camarines Sur. Additionally, Villareal mentioned that a distribution of RTEF packs is scheduled in Pasacao, Camarines Sur. "We will be helping those stranded individuals in Pasacao Port. According to initial reports, there are 30 locally stranded individuals, but we will verify the actual number at the port. They are from San Pascual, Masbate," he said.
