By Leilani S. Junio
MANILA, Nov. 16 (PNA) — The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) has said it is completing this Saturday the distribution of relief goods to all 40 towns of Leyte province severely affected by supertyphoon “Yolanda.”
Secretary Corazon J. Soliman said that as of Friday, at least 38 towns of the province were already reached by the relief goods distribution as part of DSWD’s continuous efforts in providing assistance to the needy typhoon victims.
According to her, she has ordered the DSWD’s social workers and staff to complete the distribution of the relief aid by Saturday to the remaining two towns of the province, namely Hilongos and Palompon.
At the same time, the DSWD chief reiterated the assurance that that no one will be left behind in receiving government assistance in times of dire need.
She said that at least 11 trucks are being utilized to deliver relief goods to the affected towns.
She added that around 830 food packs were distributed to some barangays in Tacloban City on Saturday.
The DSWD chief also said the repacking of relief goods in various repacking centers is still ongoing as they target to repack some 2.2 million relief goods every week to support the need of affected residents.
She expressed gratitude for the support of the volunteers in the repacking centers to the DSWD’s efforts in preparing and distributing relief goods.
Each bag of relief goods prepared by the volunteers contains six kilos of rice, eight noodles, eight packs of 3-in-1 coffee, three sardines and three cans of corned beef that can be consumed by a family of five members within three days.
The relief goods distribution is now based on schedule to be specific which towns should be reached for a particular round of distribution to assure that all affected towns are provided relief goods, Soliman said.
Aside from the relief goods, hygiene kits, water and energy biscuits for children and the elderly are also distributed to the victims.
The DSWD teams of social workers also conduct stress debriefing for the calamity victims to help them cope with trauma problems. (PNA)