Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Secretary Rex Gatchalian on Wednesday (October 8) meets with Masbate Governor Richard Kho and other local chief executives (LCEs) to discuss the preparations for the rollout of financial assistance to families that bore the brunt of Severe Tropical Storm (STS) ‘Opong.’
The meeting was part of Secretary Gatchalian’s series of activities during his third visit to Masbate, twelve days after Opong severely pummeled the province.
The financial aid will be implemented under the agency’s Emergency Cash Transfer (ECT) program — an adaptive strategy meant to provide unconditional cash assistance to disaster-affected families to aid in their recovery.
Secretary Gatchalian stressed that the financial assistance is complementary to the DSWD’s food and non-food relief items, particularly for families who lost their houses and sources of income due to the storm.
DSWD officials who joined the meeting at the Masbate Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (PDRRMO) were Undersecretary Diana Rose Cajipe of the Disaster Response Management Group (DRMG), Assistant Secretary for Regional Operations Paul Ledesma, and Field Office 5 – Bicol Region Director Norman Laurio. (LSJ)
