Ship Delivers Food Packs to Disaster Affected Families

Ship Delivers 40K+ Food Packs for Disaster-Affected Families in Mindanao

When calamity strikes, the Department of Social Welfare and Development is always ready to help. And now, as parts of Mindanao are still reeling from landslides and other calamities, the DSWD continues to give much-needed assistance in various ways.

Keeping in line with the instruction of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to make sure that “no disaster-affected families are left behind,” the DSWD — under the leadership of DSWD Secretary Rex Gatchalian — continues to provide aid to the affected region.

Ship Delivers Food Packs to Disaster Affected Families
BRP Davao del Sur delivered food packs to Globalports Davao Terminal on February 18, 2024.
Image Credit: DSWD XI – Davao Region / Facebook

BRP Davao del Sur Delivers Food Packs to Mindanao

On Sunday, February 18, 2024, DSWD Field Office (FO) – 11 welcomed the arrival of 40,800 family food packs (FFPs) at the Globalports Davao Terminal, a DSWD press release reported.

Last February 11, at the Port Area of Manila, the National Resource and Logistics Management Bureau (NRLMB) of DSWD Central Office loaded the family food packs into BRP Davao del Sur (LD602) of the Naval Forces Eastern Mindanao (NFEM).

Ship Delivers Food Packs to Disaster Affected Families
More than 40,000 family food packs were delivered.
Image Credit: DSWD XI – Davao Region / Facebook

According to DSWD Assistant Secretary for Strategic Communications, Romel Lopez, the family food packs will be given to families affected by the shear line and the trough of a low pressure area (LPA) in the region.

“Our Davao Field Office has started the hauling of the FFPs to its warehouse and these will be ready for pick up by requesting local government units (LGUs) affected by the inclement weather in the region,” Asst. Sec. Lopez stated. “We are coordinating closely with the affected LGUs to ensure that they have enough relief aid to distribute to their affected constituents.”

Ship Delivers Food Packs to Disaster Affected Families
Food packs are hauled to the DSWD warehouse, to be ready for pick up by LGUs of affected areas.
Image Credit: DSWD XI – Davao Region / Facebook

When the ship arrived, a ceremonial unloading was held, attended by DSWD Field Office -11 Regional Director Atty. Vanessa Goc-ong; Asst. Regional Director for Operations and concurrent chief of the Disaster Response Management Division, Dahlia Padillo; Globalports Davao Terminal Operations Manager, Mark Lester Tan; Deputy Commander Captain Constancio Arturo Reyes (representing Commo. Carlos Sabarre of NFEM); BRP Davao del Sur (LD602) Commanding Officer CDR Marco Sandalo; men and women of the Philippine Navy, and other DSWD FO-11 personnel.

Ship Delivers Food Packs to Disaster Affected Families
A ceremonial unloading was held, attended by key persons from the DSWD, naval forces, and port operations.
Image Credit: DSWD XI – Davao Region / Facebook

Based on the press release, the DSWD Davao Regional Office has provided a total of 145,895 food and non-food items (FNFIs) amounting to almost PHP 239 million for shear line-affected families in the region. Meanwhile, 221,835 FNFIs amounting to more than PHP 148 million have been given to LPA trough-affected families.

Thanks to the DSWD, the Philippine Navy, LGUs, and other government as well as non-government agencies — help continues to arrive for disaster-affected families in Mindanao. Indeed, all of them are proof that “angels” are ever-ready to help those who need it the most! Speaking of angels, check out this article to learn about DSWD’s “Angels in Red Vests” campaign.