The Department of Social Welfare and Development’s (DSWD) Field Office – Negros Island Region (FO-NIR) is ready to assist families affected by the latest moderate explosive eruption of Mt. Kanlaon last Thursday evening (February 26).
Asst. Secretary Irene Dumlao of the DSWD’s Disaster Response and Management Group (DRMG) said the Department has a newly-inaugurated mechanized production system (MPS) at the Visayas Disaster Resource Operations Center (VDRC) in Mandaue City, Cebu province which can produce large quantities of family food packs (FFPs) that can easily be augmented to affected localities in the Negros Island.
“Kung manual operation lang kasi, nasa around 5,000 to 8,000 family food boxes ang nagagawa natin sa isang araw. But because of the mechanized packing system, kapag talagang may extreme cases, we could produce at around 30,000 family food boxes a day. At ang kahalagahan niyan, mabilis tayo na makakapagpahatid ng tulong o tumugon sa pangangailangan ng mga kababayan natin in case may massive and simultaneous disasters happening or affecting our country,” Asst. Secretary Dumlao, who is also the DSWD spokesperson, said in an interview with Radyo Pilipinas on Friday (February 27).
The DSWD spokesperson said the VDRC currently maintains more than 379,000 FFPs ready for distribution in the Visayas and Mindanao. The DSWD’s Field Office NIR, on the other hand, has over 222,000 food packs available in its spokes and last mile warehouses.
“Itong VDRC would supply o dito magagaling yung mga food boxes na ilalagay natin sa mga warehouses naman natin sa Visayas and Mindanao dahil wala pa ang ating MDRC (Mindanao Disaster Resource Center). So, it supplies the goods that we preposition in various parts of Visayas and Mindanao. So, nakakatulong talaga siya sa pagtugon natin at paghahanda at pagtugon para sa mga kalamidad na makakaapekto sa ating bansa,” Asst. Secretary Dumlao pointed out.
The MDRC, according to the DSWD spokesperson, is now in the pipeline for the first phase of construction this year.
“For the third production hub, sa MDRC, ito naman nailagay sa General Appropriations Act (GAA) for 2026, in fact nasa around P500 million ‘yung initial na pondo. Because naka multi-year commitment ito, first phase tayo this year. So makikita niyo talagang pinaglalaanan ng pondo ng ating pamahalaan ‘yung pagpapalakas sa ating isinasagawa na paghahanda at pag-produce at pag-preposition ng mga goods para mas mapabuti pa ang ating disaster response operation,” Asst. Secretary Dumlao explained to Radio Pilipinas.
The DSWD is also in the process of adapting new technologies to strengthen its disaster response capacity.
“Pinag-uusapan na namin ang pag-include ng robotics doon sa production line. Hindi na rin po tao ang maglalagay ng mga tin cans. And then another thing, this is what we’re currently working on, ‘yung inventory management system. Naglalagay na kami ng barcode doon sa mga boxes, so alam namin kung saan pupunta ‘yung mga food boxes na ’yan,” the DSWD spokesperson said.
The continuous improvement on the DSWD’s disaster response capabilities is aligned with President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr’s directive to guarantee the efficiency and omnipresence of the Department in times of disasters. (AKDL)
