DSWD on Sept 17 editorial’s suggestions

This refers to the Inquirer’s Sept. 17 editorial (“What went wrong?”) which cited the 2014 Commission on Audit report on the “mismanagement of relief goods and funds,” saying that damage control after the fact is hardly acceptable and that “given the unpredictable situation and the limited options after ‘Yolanda,’ the (Department of Social Welfare and Development) could have gleaned practical lessons from that disaster and applied these to subsequent catastrophes.” The editorial then proceeded to make several recommendations.

We thank the Inquirer for its concern and the suggestions. It may please the editors to know that the strategies suggested in the editorial are already part of our disaster management program. We did gain a lot of lessons from Yolanda, and we have started applying these in subsequent disasters such as Typhoon “Ruby” where the casualties and damage to property were minimal.

Secondly, nongovernment organizations and the business sector as well as civil society are among our partners in disaster preparedness and response through our “Bantay, Gabay, Tulay, and Kaagapay” project.

As for the registration of families, we have the Disaster Assistance and Family Access Card (Dafac) which is given to affected families. We have a database of all Dafac holders. This database also records the different forms of assistance provided to Dafac holders.

On the agreement with the Air Force and Navy, all the major services of the Armed Forces of the Philippines are represented in the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC). Thus, the AFP disaster response team is automatically activated during disaster operations—with the speedy transport of goods to affected areas among its major contributions.

To scale up disaster operations, we have the Mindanao Resource and Operations Center at the DSWD Regional Rehabilitation Complex in Bago Oshiro, Tugbok District, Davao City. This warehouse will serve the needs not only of Mindanao but also those of other regions in the country. In the same manner, our warehouses in the Visayas and Luzon may be used to cater to the needs of Mindanao during calamities. One more warehouse is going to rise in Cebu and another in Clark Air Base in Pampanga.

We are also embarking on a partnership with the Australian government’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in a three-year Support Program for Disaster Response. This program is aimed at enhancing the DSWD’s capacity to lead disaster response/humanitarian assistance operations, most specifically in four areas: prepositioning and purchase of nonfood relief supplies; warehouse construction; capacity development; and project management, including monitoring and evaluation.

Last month we inaugurated the mechanized repacking machine acquired through the DSWD-World Food Partnership. This machine is capable of repacking 50,000 food packs within a day.

The DSWD works closely with other NDRRMC-member agencies, LGUs, NGOs and international humanitarian organizations to assist calamity survivors.

—JAVIER R. JIMENEZ,assistant secretary and spokesperson, Department of Social Welfare and Development