In line with the efforts to ensure that no disaster-affected family will get hungry under the Marcos Administration, the Department of Social Welfare and Development’s (DSWD) National Resource and Logistics Management Bureau (NRLMB) has achieved another milestone by producing 3.3 million family food packs (FFPs) as of January 31 (Saturday).
DSWD Secretary Rex Gatchalian congratulated the NLRMB on the 3.3 million food packs production milestone as he directed Asst. Secretary Leo Quintilla, the NLRMB Officer-in-Charge, to work towards attaining the 4 million mark soonest.
“In the DSWD, we continue to enhance our production capacity to guarantee that we always have sufficient goods prepositioned in all our hubs, spokes, and last mile warehouses across the country. This is aligned with the Department’s Buong Banda Handa (BBH) program,” Asst. Secretary Leo Quintilla, a senior official of the DSWD’s Disaster Response Management Group (DRMG), said on Saturday.
Asst. Secretary Quintilla, who oversees the DSWD’s main production hubs in Pasay City for Luzon and Mandaue City for the Visayas, explained that the BBH employs two parallel supply chains for disaster preparedness and response.
“The BBH initiative has a government-led supply chain at the national and local levels. We tap local governments to house stockpiles so these goods can be deployed quickly when needed. Meanwhile, we also maintain a private sector–driven supply chain, engaging private partners through framework agreements to leverage their expertise and resources,” the NRLMB chief pointed out.
Apart from the BBH, Asst. Secretary Quintilla said the DSWD also continues to innovate in terms of its disaster preparedness and response capabilities.
“Our mechanized production system (MPS), located at our major disaster hubs, the Luzon Disaster Resource Center (LDRC) in Pasay City and the Visayas Disaster Resource Center (VDRC) in Mandaue City, can produce between 18,000 and 20,000 FFPs per day. This capacity ensures that, even in the absence of a disaster or emergency, we remain ready to replenish stocks and rapidly deploy relief goods when needed,” Asst. Secretary Quintilla pointed out.
The NRLMB chief also mentioned that the mechanized production utilizes a barcoding system to track the expiration dates and delivery of the FFPs.
“The food packs are labeled with barcodes to track their production and expiration dates. We also use an inventory management system to monitor this information, enabling us to identify the appropriate warehouse for storage and prioritize items for immediate distribution,” Asst. Secretary Quintilla said.
The DSWD is also looking at establishing a Mindanao Disaster Resource Center (MDRC) in Butuan City for 2026 as part of the regional initiatives under the BBH program.
The MDRC project will begin this year with an initial budget of Php500 million as indicated in the approved DSWD budget under the 2026 General Appropriations Act (GAA).
Another innovation that the DSWD plans to implement this year is the iron-fortified rice production.
“By using this innovation in our supply chain, the DSWD hopes to boost the nutritional value of rice in our relief operations, helping fight iron deficiency anemia and support food security for vulnerable communities,” Asst. Secretary Quintilla said.
On January 27 to 29, the NRLMB conducted a workshop with the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) – Food and Nutrition Research Institute (FNRI) and the National Food Authority (NFA) to discuss the technical use of DOST-FNRI’s specialized blending technology. (AKDL)
