SOME 57,729 bags of rice are still available at the Department of Social Welfare and Development Field Office X which are ready to be distributed to the El Niño affected communities in Northern Mindanao should local government units need resource augmentation from the Department to respond to the El Niño-affected communities.
The bags of rice are intended as assistance for the farmers and their families who have been affected by the drought that has been drying up farmlands since November 2015. 65,070 bags of rice were purchased by the DSWD from the National Food Authority for such cause.
Each bag contains 50 kilos of rice. Each family is allocated 25 kilos for their consumption.
Nestor B. Ramos, Regional Director of the DSWD Field Office X, says that these bags are ready to be released to the affected communities, but the Local Government Units need to submit their proposal and master list of beneficiaries first before these can be distributed to them. “The allocation for each LGU is dependent on the proposal and master list of beneficiaries that they submit to us,” Ramos says.
“We are encouraging our LGUs to fast track their request to the DSWD so that we can mobilize ourselves in distributing these bags of rice to their constituents. We also need them to be ready in the howling of these bags to their areas,” Ramos emphasized.
“As of April 23, 2016, we have only released 7,341 bags or 12% of the total number of purchased bags of rice from the NFA-X. This means that more than 43,000 families in Northern Mindanao have received these rice or about to receive them by April 29, 2016,” Ramos said.
The DSWD has recently conducted dialogues with the diocese in Bukidnon and Misamis Oriental and with civil society groups to help in the distribution of the bags of rice. “We were able to get the support of the Church and civil society groups in the distribution of the bags to the affected families, and we truly appreciate their partnership with us,” Ramos shared.
Ramos expressed that the DSWD is working very hard to assist families who are affected by the drought. (pr)
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