Government disaster response teams are in Catanduanes to provide various assistance after the province was pummeled by Super Typhoon Pepito (international name Man-yi) over the weekend and the other cyclones that struck the country in the past weeks.

Office of Civil Defense (OCD) Bicol Assistant Regional Director Jessar Adornado said in an interview on Monday that various agencies have sent personnel to distribute aid to the victims.

“We bring everything that we can as of now. We bring very important food and non-food items from the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), the Department of Health, and from our office, the Philippine Airforce-Tactical Operation Group for the air assets that can be used for relief transport, the Philippine National Police, Bureau of Fire Protection for their personnel,” he said.

Adornado said their office would also provide non-food items needed in rehabilitation, including 50 rolls of laminated sack or “sakoline”, 400 pieces of galvanized iron sheets, 40 sets of family tents, 85 pieces of modular tents, and 1,000 pails of hygiene kits.

In a separate interview, DSWD Secretary Rex Gatchalian assured adequate government assistance for the province.

“Upon the instruction of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., he wants to assess the immediate needs. I talked to the governor for one hour,” he said.

He said to sustain the efforts, the DSWD also arranged an additional 45,000 family food packs that would arrive daily until Saturday.

“We also asked the governor for the list to start to provide financial assistance so the people can start to buy their needs for their home,” he said.

Gatchalian said emergency employment assistance would be provided by the Department of Labor and Employment and housing assistance by the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development.

The DSWD chief is in the province to oversee response efforts in the aftermath of the super typhoon on Saturday. (PNA)