BAGUIO CITY (PIA) - - The Department of Social Welfare and Development – Cordillera,  as the lead agency of the Regional Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (RDRRMC) Response Cluster, is ready  to respond  to  any disaster or emergency.

DSWD – CAR Regional Director Leo Quintilla gave the assurance during the Cordillera RDRRMC Kapihan forum  in  line with the observance of July as National Disaster Resilient Month at the OCD – CAR Regional Office here on July 10.

Quintilla reported that as a strategic move, the DSWD has  increased its stockpile of Family Food Packs (FFPs) from 30,000 to 40,000  while Non – Food Items (NFIs) are  pegged at  29,000 per region at any given time.

For DSWD – CAR as of July 6, there are 39,008 FFPs and 29,583 NFIs strategically pre-positioned in DSWD regional warehouse in Benguet, satellite warehouses in the other provinces in Cordillera and to 69 LGUs that  have Disaster Relief Preposition Agreement with the Agency.  

The DSWD – CAR also has  around P4.43 million standby funds ready for use at any given time, he said.

Quintilla also shared that the DSWD also has  the Emergency Cash Transfer (ECT), an adaptive strategy in bridging the gaps in immediate relief, humanitarian response and early recovery support through provision of unconditional cash to victims of disaster situation requiring DSWD intervention.

The DSWD ECT was first implemented during the 2022 Magnitude 7.0 and 6.4 earthquakes, wherein 28,043 families with partially and totally damaged houses were provided a total cost of P256,060,800 in cash assistance.

In terms of human resources, Quintilla reported that DSWD – CAR has 461 trained personnel in different fields of disaster response which include  incident command system, Rapid Damage Assessment and Needs Analysis, Post Disaster Needs Assessment, psycho – social processing, camp management and coordination, and internally displaced persons protection, among others.

Quintilla  informed  that  for the first semester of this year, the DSWD – CAR has responded to 48 incidents including during the time of Super Typhoon Betty and other hydromet hazards, structural fire, rockfall/landslide and other emergencies with 17,448 families assisted and around P59.97 million of total assistance provided.

Joining Quintilla in the forum  are  CRDRRMC Chairperson and OCD – CAR Director Albert Mogol, PAGASA – Baguio Senior Meteorologists Engr. Larry Esperanza, and RDRRMC Vice chairs  Department of Science and Technology – CAR Regional Director Dr. Nancy Bantog for Disaster Prevention and Mitigation; NEDA – CAR Regional Director Susan Sumbeling for  Disaster Rehabilitation and Recovery, and Dept. of the Interior and Local Government  – CAR Regional Director Areceli San Jose represented by Kristoffer Alvarez.

Mogol enjoined  all DRRM stakeholders on the region to support the NDRM 2023 observance and calls for a continuing unified and pro - active approach in ensuring disaster resilient communities in  the Cordillera. (JDP/CCD-PIA CAR)