There are more than one million family food packs (FFPs) and 307,664 non-food items (NFIs) prepared for possible effects of Super Typhoon Mawar, Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Secretary Rex Gatchalian reported on Thursday, May 25.

In a statement, DSWD Gatchalian stated that these FFPs and NFIs are already prepositioned in the DSWD office and its Field Offices (FOs) in strategic locations and warehouses across the country.

The Secretary conveyed his appreciation for the officials of the Department of National Defense (DND) for helping them in transporting the FFPs to Batanes.

In its latest forecast, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) said that Batanes and Babuyan Island are among the areas in Luzon that will be affected by Super Typhoon Mawar.

Mawar will be named “Betty” once it enters the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR) by Friday evening or Saturday morning.

“Thank you to DND, PAGASA, and the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) for providing us with necessary tools. Everybody, thank you kasi we all know that relief operations require all this data and the logistics to it. So maraming salamat on behalf of the DSWD bureaucracy,” the DSWD secretary said.

According to Gatchalian, they are continuously coordinating with concerned local government units (LGUs) through their FOs to ensure that relief items are sufficient and ready for distribution to areas that are expected to be hit by Tropical Cyclone Mawar.

Written By Dana Ebreo, DZRH News Online Intern