MANILA –The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) said Tuesday that although typhoon Jose is unlikely to make a direct landfall, it ordered its field offices near the typhoon path to be watchful or be on alert status to monitor the situation and to ensure quick provision of augmentation assistance to local government units when needed.
DSWD Secretary Corazon J. Soliman assured that there are enough prepositioned relief goods as pro-active preparation which will be available for augmentation to possible evacuees that will be affected in case the typhoon impact to areas where it will pass would be enormous.
“In Ilocos Region, DSWD has prepositioned family food packs worth P1,564,763.60 and non-food items worth P6,082,767.93,” Secretary Soliman said.
Soliman added that they also keep close coordination with the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) Regional Center 1 together with the Regional/Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Councils (R/PDRRMC) in Pangasinan to monitor the situation in low lying areas.
She added that through close coordination with them, pre-emptive evacuation of families will be undertaken to minimize casualties.
In Cagayan Valley, DSWD-Field Office II prepositioned a total of 13,000 family food packs for the 65 evacuation centers identified. Likewise, the provincial governments of Cagayan, Isabela, Nueva Vizcaya, Quirino, and Batanes prepositioned a total of 20,325 family food packs.
In addition, the DSWD has standby fund of P5.18 million for 3,660 family food packs, 314 cases of assorted canned goods, 987 cases of bottled water, and 36,000 tins of ready-to-eat-food that are readily available for distribution as the need arises.
According to Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA), typhoon “Jose” continues to enhance the “hanging habagat” (southwest monsoon) which will bring frequent rains in most parts of the country although it will not make a landfall
Typhoon Jose has maximum sustained winds of 195 kph and gustiness of up to 230 kph.