MANILA – The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) has distributed more than PHP1.4 billion worth of assistance to families and individuals impacted by Typhoon Odette.
DSWD Secretary Rolando Bautista stated that the agency is focused on ensuring that food is available for “Odette” victims until they are deemed fully recovered from the typhoon that struck the Philippines last December 16.
“It is the government’s top responsibility to provide quality and immediate relief assistance to guarantee food stability during trying times and catastrophes. We are giving away what we have to make sure that no one goes hungry,” he said in a message to reporters on Wednesday.
As one of the member agencies of the Inter-Agency Task Force on Zero Hunger, the DSWD leads the fifth key result area to “ensure sustainable food systems, resiliency and food stability for emergencies.”
According to an ongoing assessment, about 116,000 people are still displaced in evacuation centers or staying with host families – relatives or friends – eight weeks after Typhoon Odette devastated the central and southern provinces.
The typhoon Odette has affected a total of 3,024,398 families or 10,993,939 persons in 10,131 barangays in the Bicol Region, Western Visayas, Central Visayas, Eastern Visayas, Zamboanga Peninsula, Northern Mindanao, Davao Region, Central Mindanao, Mimaropa, and Caraga.
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