CEBU CITY, Cebu, April 5 (PIA) -- The Department of Social Welfare and Development Region 7 (DSWD7) recently held the 1st Quarter Meeting of the Disaster Response Cluster of the Regional Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council in Cebu City.

In her welcome remarks, DSWD7 Regional Director Shalaine Marie Lucero said she expects the group to adequately address the concerns of each cluster in the preparedness for a response while still in the peacetime or white alert level.

The meeting started with a joint session of the Logistics, Camp Coordination and Camp Management, and Food and Non-Food Items Clusters where issues, concerns, and updates on prepositioning, stockpiling, possible construction of satellite warehouses, improving camp coordination and management and its services and interoperability among member agencies were discussed.

Office of the Civil Defense (OCD) 7 Director Segundo Bolo and other cluster members also visited DSWD-7’s Regional Warehouse to appreciate and observe the production of family food packs that will be distributed to disaster-affected families.

They were also briefly oriented on the different relief kits of the department.

The RDRRMC-Disaster Response Cluster is led by DSWD and is composed of various national government agencies working together to provide immediate augmentation support and assumption of response activities in times of disaster and emergencies.

Among the agencies represented in the assembly are the Coast Guard District Central Visayas, 7th Forward Service Support Unit, Army Support Command (ASCOM) (7FSSU, ASCOM), Office of the Civil Defense, Bureau of Fire Protection, Tactical Operations Wing Central of the Philippine Air Force (TOWCEN-PAF), Naval Force Central (NAVFORCEN), Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB), Department of Public Works and Highway (DPWH), National Nutrition Council 7 (NNC), Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), Philippine Red Cross, Department of Health (DOH), Department of Energy (DOE), Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), and the Department of Education (DepEd). (HFG/PIA7 with reports from DSWD 7)