The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), through its provincial field office here, rolled out on Thursday the provision of cash assistance to the first batch of beneficiaries affected by Typhoon Egay.

During the first day of the cash payout in Batac City and Gabut Norte in Badoc town, some 3,821 individuals received cash aid under the DSWD’s Emergency Cash Transfer (ECT) program.

Worth more than PHP34.6 million, at least 57 individuals with totally damaged houses received PHP13,500 each, and some 3,764 persons with partially damaged houses were handed PHP9,000 each.

Provincial treasurer Josephine Calajate said in an interview that more aid to typhoon victims in the province is underway, aside from the DSWD ECT program

“The first tranche from the Office of the President is PHP20 million and there will be another release of PHP10 million in the coming days,” she said.

Each local government unit was also given PHP2 million for the provision of construction materials, livelihood assistance, food packs and additional medicines and additional toilets in evacuation centers, said Calajate.

In Paoay town, Ilocos Norte Gov. Matthew Joseph Manotoc personally led a team from the capitol on Thursday for the continuing distribution of food packs to coastal villages affected by Egay.

Held at the Paoay Civic Center, the Capitol Express program is meant to bring government services closer to the people as well as the Kadiwa Market and distribution of farm inputs were simultaneously conducted.

In his short speech, Manotoc assured Ilocanos affected by the typhoon that no one will be left behind in terms of aid provision from the government.

Early recovery and rehabilitation

DSWD Secretary Rex Gatchalian said ECT payout and immediate dispatch of the family food packs (FFPs) to Northern Luzon are in line with the instruction of President Ferdinand R. Marcos that no resident who is severely affected by the typhoon will ever go hungry.

“Part of the President’s instruction is for the DSWD to enable the early recovery and rehabilitation of affected families and individuals through the provision of emergency cash transfer and cash-for-work, which will start soon,” told the Ilocos Norte residents when he visited the flood-hit region on Thursday.

DSWD 1 (Ilocos) Director Marie Angela Gopalan said personnel of the DSWD field office in the region have been validating and consolidating the list of family beneficiaries with the help of the Provincial Social Welfare and Development Office (PSWDO).

“We are dependent on the quality of data submitted by the barangays to the MWSDO (Municipal Social Welfare and Development Office). Numbers do not always match the actual list… so we have to do spot validation,” Gopalan told Gatchalian.

Meanwhile, DSWD Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) Director Leo Quintilla reported to Gatchalian that their field office would launch the ECT payout in Bontoc, Mountain Province on Aug. 11 for about 385 beneficiaries.

Gatchalian earlier ordered the regional directors to fast-track the preparations for the rollout of the ECT program in the northern provinces of Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, Abra, Apayao, Mountain Province and Cagayan, as well as in the municipality of Sablayan in Occidental Mindoro.

“Plot out the schedule of the payout… I want to have payout activities in batches,” Gatchalian told the concerned regional directors.

He said the cash-for-work (CFW) could run for 30 to 45 days and would provide alternative livelihood to typhoon-affected residents as part of their early recovery and rehabilitation after the calamity.

“We expect that cash-for-work program to be available soon pending the local government units’ (LGUs) identification of beneficiaries and verification by the DSWD field office,” Gatchalian said.

Swift dispatch of relief goods

Gatchalian, meanwhile, commended the National Resource Operations Center (NROC) for releasing a total of 45,500 boxes of FFP in just two days.

The NROC is expected to dispatch a total of 289,906 boxes of FFPs in the first two weeks of August as augmentation assistance to the local government units (LGUs) in the regions of Ilocos, Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon, and CAR.

A total of 27,000 FFPs were released to the Central Luzon field office intended for the following areas: San Fernando, Pampanga – 15,600 FFPs; Mexico, Pampanga – 1,500; San Luis, Pampanga – 1,200; Candaba, Pampanga – 1,000; Malolos, Bulacan – 3,000 FFPs; Obando, Bulacan – 1,000; Sta. Maria, Bulacan – 700; and Orani, Bataan – 3,000.

For the CAR field office, a total of 10,500 FFPs were released by NROC for delivery to La Trinidad, Benguet. For the Ilocos field office, a total of 8,000 FFPs were released by NROC and immediately dispatched to Lingayen, Pangasinan with 5,000 FFPs and Bantay, Ilocos Sur with 3,000 FFPs.

The DSWD also asked the Metro Manila Development Authority traffic enforcers not to apprehend the DSWD delivery truck “for as long as there is a signage in the windshield.”

DSWD Assistant Secretary for local engagement Ulysses Aguilar also requested the concerned regional directors to send the plate numbers of all delivery trucks, as well as the names of the drivers so he can send it to the MMDA’s Traffic Enforcement Group to avoid delay. (PNA)