Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Secretary Rex Gatchalian on Wednesday (November 13) ordered the prepositioning of more family food packs (FFPs) in Northern Luzon as Tropical Storm Ofel continues to threaten the area.
Secretary Gatchalian noted that the current track of ST Ofel as well as the simmering Pepito were similar to the track of Severe Tropical Storm Nika which caused damage to the provinces of Aurora in Region 3 (Central Luzon) and Isabela and Cagayan in Region 2 (Cagayan Valley).
“We can see that the paths of Ofel and Pepito are going Northwards again. So we have to keep pushing more FFPs daily until Tuesday (November 19) in our Northern Field Offices. Include our FO 3 outpost in Aurora province,” Secretary Gatchalian told the officials of the agency’s Disaster Response Management Group (DRMG).
Secretary Gatchalian tasked the DRMG’s National Logistic and Resources Management Bureau (NLRMB) to tap the assistance of the Philippine Air Force (PAF) and the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) to bring in the sufficient number of FFPs to the island province of Batanes.
The NLRMB reported on Wednesday there were two sorties of the PAF’s C-130 cargo plane bound for Batanes. The first C-130 with tail number 5157 delivered 800 boxes of FFPs at 9:30 am while another C-130 (4704) with 800 boxes of FFPs landed in Basco airport at 10:30 am.
Another C-130 plane is scheduled to deliver an additional 800 FFPs to Basco, Batanes on Thursday (November 14), according to the NLRMB.
Meanwhile, a PCG ship loaded with 8,000 boxes of FFPs is expected to depart Pier 13 in the Port of Manila on Friday (November 15) bound for the Port of Basco in Batanes.
As of Tuesday (November 12), the DSWD’s National Resources Operations Center (NROC) in Pasay City as well as the agency’s hub in San Simon, Pampanga have dispatched a total of 33,600 FFPs broken down as follows: FO 1 (Ilocos) – 11,900 FFPs (8,500 from NROC and 3,400 from San Simon); FO 2 (Cagayan Valley) – 1,700 FFPs from NROC; FO 3 (Central Luzon) – 3,000 FFPS from San Simon; FO 5 (Bicol) – 10,200 FFPs from NROC; and FO-Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) – 6,800 FFPs from NROC.
Also on Tuesday, the Visayas Disaster Resource Center (VDRC) based in Cebu was able to dispatch 13,400 FFPs broken down as follows: FO 6 (Western Visayas) – 1,700 FFPs; FO 7 (Central Visayas) – 5,000 FFPs; and FO 12 (SOCCSKSARGEN) – 6,700 FFPs.
