The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) will soon be able to give out up to 70,000 family food packs every day, assured its Secretary Rex Gatchalian on Monday.
In an exclusive interview with DZRH, Gatchalian said that his Department was able to distribute 65,000 food packs between regions 2 and 5, and will boost its efforts on Monday and Tuesday to attain a goal of 70,000 food packs assembled on a daily basis.
The welfare department has already been able to double its output since producing 35,000 food packs daily from their Luzon-based production facilities.
“Huwag mag-aalala ang ating mga kababayan, ang unang prioridad natin ay pagkain sa hapag, kaya talagang tuloy-tuloy ‘yung production namin,” Gatchalian assured.
(Our countrymen shouldn’t worry, our first priority is getting food on the table, that’s why our production has been continuous.)
Gatchalian credited the Department of Budget and Management’s assiduousness in refilling the Department’s funds as they provide not only relief via food packs, but also recovery aid.
Prior to the deluge brought in by Super Typhoon Pepito, DSWD had already prepositioned 10,000 food packs scattered across the island of Catanduanes. Gatchalian said he had been in touch with its governor throughout the weekend, and requested that he hand out the estimated 3,500 food packs which were already with him.
As of the time of the interview, Gatchalian reported that 20,000 food packs were in Allen Port, Northern Samar, on their way to Catanduanes. He expects that within the next 24 hours, another 10,000 food packs will arrive. DSWD is aiming to ship 30,000 food packs in the island alone, he told Anthony Taberna.
Gatchalian himself is flying to Catanduanes to meet with the local chief executives, get the exact numbers, and assess what else can be done for residents in the area.
