DSWD acquires system that packs 50,000 relief goods a day

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) installed a modernized repacking system to speed up the production of emergency family food packs in its operations center in Pasay City.

At the inauguration ceremony on Wednesday, Social Welfare Secretary Corazon "Dinky" Soliman, together with representatives from World Food Program and United Kingdom's Department for International Development, said the mechanized repacking system will make the agency more responsive in delivering food packs to people affected by calamities. 

"This is just one of the many efforts we are undertaking to improve the country’s disaster management program. The new system will enable the Department to become more responsive in meeting the food needs of survivors of disasters," Soliman said.

The system, which consists of rice bagging machines, case erectors, a conveyor system and a pallet racking system, will allow the government to produce over 50,000 family food packs a day the next time a disaster occurs in the Philippines. The packs are supposed to be enough to feed more than 250,000 people for three days.

A family food pack consists of rice, canned goods and coffee.

Praveen Agrawal, WFP Philippines representative and country director, said the mechanized repacking system will make a big difference in terms of swiftly providing life saving-food to a number of people after a disaster.

The modernization of the family food pack production facility is the result of a partnership between the DSWD, the Office of Civil Defense and the WFP to enhance disaster preparedness in the Philippines.

Other projects include establishing a network of disaster response facilities in Clark, Cebu, and General Santos, as well as running a training program that focuses on emergency logistics and the disaster response supply chain.