DSWD to stop distributing Yolanda relief packs this July

MANILA, Philippines - The humanitarian response phase in areas devastated by Typhoon Yolanda last November will now transition to recovery and rehabilitation that will be taken over by the Office of the Presidential Assistant for Rehabilitation and Recovery (OPARR) headed by Secretary Panfilo Lacson, according to Social Welfare and Development Secretary Corazon Juliano-Soliman.

Soliman said this means her department would stop distributing relief packs to survivors of the howler that ravaged eastern Visayas and parts of central and western Visayas, by the end of this month.

There are some 280,000 families receiving relief packs from the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).

Soliman, however, said those in evacuation centers and “vulnerable families” – those whose breadwinners are still not able to engage in livelihood, and families with pregnant mothers, senior citizens and persons with disabilities – will continue to get food support beyond July.

She said the list of these “vulnerable families” is presently being validated.

Soliman made this announcement during the sixth inter-cluster coordination meeting of the government and the Humanitarian Country Team, chaired by the DSWD and co-chaired by United Nations resident coordinator and UN Development Program country director Luiza Carvalho. 

It was the last meeting of the disaster humanitarian response clusters before OPARR takes the helm.

Also present in the meeting were Lacson, Office of the Civil Defense officer-in-charge Romeo Fajardo, and representatives of government and UN agencies, and international non-government organizations.

Lacson, for his part, gave assurance that all rehabilitation initiatives in the six affected regions would focus on pre-Yolanda data to serve as guide in building back better communities.

Carvalho expressed the UN’s continued support for the rehabilitation efforts.

She vowed that the UN system and other partner organizations would explore ways on how to support and collaborate with the government under the OPARR.

“We hope that we shall continue to be partners now that we are focusing on the rehabilitation of Yolanda affected areas,” Soliman said, as she highlighted the efforts of the various disaster response clusters.