Manila: Around PHP431.9 million worth of humanitarian assistance has been distributed to over 858,000 families, or approximately 2.9 million individuals, in Western Visayas who were impacted by various calamities this year, as reported by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) on Friday.
According to Philippines News Agency, DSWD disaster response information and management section head Claud Jan Marquez stated that PHP397 million of the aid originated from the DSWD, with the remainder provided by local government units, nongovernmental organizations, and other partners. The majority of this assistance was directed towards families affected by four significant weather disturbances that impacted the region in the last quarter of the year 2025.
Of the 241 recorded disasters this year, 80.5 percent were attributed to human-induced causes, while only 19.5 percent were natural hazard incidents. Marquez highlighted that the region experienced four tropical cyclones where they were directly impacted, and the rest of the second semester of the year was marked by monsoon rains intensified by tropical cyclones affecting Luzon.
The DSWD documented 57,537 partially damaged houses and 2,243 completely destroyed ones. Data from the agency revealed that PHP191.86 million was allocated to families affected by Tropical Cyclone Ramil, PHP87.25 million to those affected by Tino, PHP4.86 million to families impacted by Uwan, and PHP264,802 to families affected by Verbena.
Marquez noted that the response efforts continue for those affected by Verbena, with the number of impacted families, initially estimated at 14,497 or 44,374 individuals, anticipated to rise. For Ramil, the DSWD is actively working on completing the emergency cash transfer to affected families in Capiz. To date, PHP144.9 million in emergency cash assistance has been distributed to 25,753 out of the 65,097 families impacted by Ramil.
Marquez stated, "Currently, it is still ongoing. Hopefully, we can complete the 65,097 target families for payout for the emergency cash transfer for Capiz."
As of November 26, the DSWD reported having PHP78.68 million in standby funds and prepositioned relief supplies. The standby stockpiles include 18,002 family food packs in the DSWD regional warehouse in Oton, Iloilo, and 48,939 family food packs across 39 prepositioned sites in various local government units in the region. Additionally, there are 516 ready-to-eat food boxes in the regional warehouse and 1,966 in 39 prepositioned sites.
"Our replenishment from our third-party private suppliers from Luzon and our production hub in Cebu City is ongoing," Marquez added.
