Albay: The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) is ready for a possible Mayon eruption, with sufficient volume of family food packs (FFPs) prepositioned in the different warehouses in the Bicol Region. DSWD Secretary Rex Gatchalian made the assurance in a televised interview on Friday following his visit to Albay province to personally assess the situation and prepare for any eventuality.

According to Philippines News Agency, Gatchalian assured that there are plenty of family food packs stocked in various warehouses in Albay as communicated to local government units. Even before the raising to Alert Level 3 status, the DSWD had already prepositioned in Albay province 150,000 boxes of FFPs and other food and non-food items (FNFIs) on orders of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.

The national stockpile has reached four million family food boxes spread across 1,000 warehouses nationwide, ensuring readiness to respond immediately to any disaster. In addition to the initial 150,000 food packs prepositioned in the Bicol Region, Gatchalian has ordered the immediate release of an additional 100,000 FFPs.

Gatchalian also highlighted that the DSWD will implement a cash-for-work (CFW) program to assist families residing within the six-km permanent danger zone whose sources of livelihood have been disrupted. Based on the latest Disaster Response Operations Management, Information, and Communication (DROMIC) report, the DSWD has so far provided more than PHP6 million worth of humanitarian assistance to affected families and individuals. The initial aid consists of 2,880,960 ready-to-eat food boxes, and 1,949 non-food items.