The Department of Social and Welfare and Development (DSWD) National Resource Operations Center (NROC) delivered on Thursday thousands of items for landslide victims in Leyte.

The DSWD regional office received 5,000 family food packs (FFPs), 1,000 sleeping kits, 2,900 kitchen kits, and 3,500 hygiene kits. These goods are intended for survivors in Baybay City and Abuyog town.

“These are intended to augment the resources of DSWD Eastern Visayas as it responds to the requests of local government units affected by the recent disaster,” DSWD regional information officer Joshua Kempis said in a phone interview Thursday.

As of April 20, the DSWD has already distributed 27,925 FFPs in different towns of Leyte province. The total value of released food packs is PHP17.86 million.

Each food pack for one family costing PHP500 contains six kilograms of rice, four cans of corned beef, two cans of tuna flakes, two cans of sardines, five sachets of coffee, and five sachets of energy drink.

Under the Philippine Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act of 2010, the local governments are the first responders, and the DSWD is tasked to augment the response efforts after disasters.

Meanwhile, the DSWD has already released a total of PHP1.01 million to victims of Tropical Depression Agaton under its assistance to individuals in crisis situations program.

A PHP10,000 cash aid has been given to each of the 56 families whose members died due to a landslide, while PHP5,000 was released to 90 families whose houses were covered by the massive soil erosion.

The DSWD Eastern Visayas assured the public that it would continue to provide augmentation support to the affected local government units. (PNA)