In response to the directive of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr to provide financial assistance apart from the family food packs (FFPs) to families affected by Super Typhoon Julian, the Department of Social Welfare and Development’s (DSWD) Field Office 2-Cagayan Valley continued the distribution of Emergency Cash Transfer (ECT) in the island province of Batanes.
“Today, we are starting another ECT payout in the remaining parts of the province of Batanes. If you can recall, President Marcos and Secretary Gatchalian personally visited Batanes last week to check the situation of the affected families. The President specifically directed the DSWD to provide cash assistance to these typhoon-hit families,” Assistant Secretary for Disaster Response Management Group (DRMG) Irene Dumlao, who is also the agency’s spokesperson, said on Thursday (October 10).
According to the DSWD spokesperson, the DSWD Field Office 2 – Cagayan Valley will hand out ECT on October 10 to the affected families in the municipalities of Uyugan, Ivana, and Mahatao in Batanes.
A similar payout will also be conducted for the affected families residing in Sabtang island.
“For Sabtang, we are currently finalizing the schedule of the payout. Rest assured that families residing in the southernmost island of the province will receive cash assistance from DSWD,” Asst. Secretary Dumlao pointed out.
A total of 7,350 families are expected to receive Php10,000 each in the province of Batanes.
The ECT, as mentioned by Asst. Secretary Dumlao, is an adaptive strategy of the DSWD in bridging the gaps between immediate disaster relief, humanitarian response, and early recovery support through the provision of unconditional cash to victims of disasters and emergency situations requiring interventions.
Natividad De Guzman, 74, expressed her gratitude after receiving Php10,000 during the payout in Basco, Batanes on Tuesday (October 8).
“Taos-puso akong nagpapasalamat sa Panginoong Diyos, kay President Marcos, at sa inyong lahat na nagpaabot ng tulong sa amin. Bagamat nasiraan kami ng bahay, hindi ninyo kami pinabayaan at patuloy kayong nagbigay ng suporta. Itong perang natanggap ko ay aming gagamitin upang pambili ng yero, kahoy, at iba pang materyales para muling maitayo ang aming bahay,” Natividad said.
