QUEZON CITY -- The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), through its Field Offices (FOs), continues to coordinate with concerned local government units (LGUs) in the provinces of Leyte, Camarines Norte, and Davao Occidental for possible request for technical assistance and resource augmentation after various earthquakes hit parts of these areas this week.

In Region VIII, about 364 families were affected by the magnitude 5.3 earthquake that hit Leyte on January 15. The DSWD FO VIII has already augmented relief assistance worth P417,727.82 to assist the concerned LGU in their disaster response operations.  The FO also reported that 364 houses were damaged in the quake-hit province.

As of January 19, the Department maintains more than P1.2 billion worth of standby and stockpile funds for its disaster response operations. Of the amount, more than P102 million is the available standby funds in the Central Office and DSWD FOs, while there are 498,917 family food packs worth more than P312 million.  Other food and non-food items costing over P857 million are also prepositioned strategically in various locations around the country.

The Department will also continue to hold repacking operations and prepositioning of goods to ensure the sufficiency of relief items in disaster-prone areas. (DSWD)