DAVAO CITY. Dec. 10 (PIA): Relief hubs will be established to fast-track distribution of relief goods to Typhoon Pablo displaced families and individuals, Social Welfare Secretary Corazon Soliman said over the weekend.
In a press interview Sunday, during her meeting with humanitarian agencies, Soliman said outside of Davao City, Nabunturan will serve the badly hit areas in Compostela Valley and Trento (Agusan del Sur) will cater the typhoon-struck areas in the provinces of Agusan del Sur and the isolated towns of Boston, Cateel and Baganga of Davao Oriental.
Service areas of the Nabunturan hub are the typhoon-affected towns of New Bataan, Monkayo, Compostela, Montevista, Laak and Mabini. Aside from serving Davao Oriental areas, the Trento hub will also be serving Agusan del Sur towns of Veruela, Bunawan, Santa Josefa and Loreto.
Donor agencies can directly go to typhoon-affected areas but Soliman directed them to coordinate with the relief hub manned by partners from the Provincial Social Welfare and Development Office (PSWDO) and social welfare and development (SWAD) team leader.
Soliman viewed such coordination as necessary so donor agencies will be directed to areas which are still needing help, “so no one would be left out of food”, and to ensure equitable access to relief assistance.
She assured that chosen relief hub are sites where internet-based communication is open and that lines of telecommunication companies are working.
On the other hand, Soliman welcomed suggestion to do barangay-based distribution of relief goods but “this has to be managed by the local government units.” “We will only monitor it,” she said.
Having received information that some members of indigenous communities were still left out of food assistance, she asked them to come down to nearest distribution sites at the poblacion area.
“What we are considering is the accessibility of the area,” she said referring to far-flung communities where IPs were still staying, after typhoon Pablo’s devastating visit.
As of Monday, DSWD 11 extended P10,000 cash assistance to families of 193 casualties and released P11.708 million worth of assistance in kind, with P8.9 million counterparts from local government units and P1.9 from non-government organizations (NGOs). Individual donors reached a total of P48,292.
As of Saturday, DSWD XI monitored 144,506 displaced families with 601,022 individuals.
Relative to relief distribution, DSWD will be issuing family access cards which displaced families can use in claiming or in asking relief assistance.
DSWD last Sunday tasked partners Municipal Social Welfare and Development Offices in typhoon-affected towns to start producing the access cards which will be distributed the soonest possible time.
Aside from food, DSWD is also addressing non-food needs of typhoon victims such as water-sanitation-hygiene, shelter, protection, and livelihood. It is also looking into camp management while on the process of building bunk houses.
Acting Regional Director Priscilla N. Razon said P42 million had been downloaded to the regional office of DSWD to fund the construction of bunk houses in seven towns of Boston, Cateel and Baganga in Davao Oriental and in New Bataan, Monkayo, Compostela and Montevista in Compostela Valley. (PIA XI/ Jeanevive Duron-Abangan)
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