The Department of Social Welfare and Development in Western Visayas (DSWD-6) has been providing local government units (LGUs) in Antique with family food packs to augment their depleting resources.

DSWD Antique head Melrose Amaran, in an interview Wednesday, said for the first semester of 2021 they have provided 23,969 family food packs worth PHP11 million to the province’s 18 municipalities.

Based on the data provided by the DSWD-6, San Jose de Buenavista received 3,200 food packs; San Remigio, 2,510; Tobias Fornier with 2,099; Caluya, 2,000; Sibalom, 2,300; Laua-an and Barbaza, 1,520 food packs each; Hamtic, 1,500; Anini-y, 1,010; Tibiao, Belison and Bugasong with 1000 each; Pandan, 800; Sebaste, 510; and Patnongon, Valderrama, Libertad, Culasi with 500 each.

The provision of food packs is part of the department’s regular program to assist LGUs faced with challenges on feeding their constituents who are either in a home or facility quarantine and whose movements are restricted due to the implementation of border control amid the health pandemic.

“The DSWD distributes family food packs to the LGUs that have requested for augmentation because of their depleted local resources already,” said DSWD Regional Office 6 Project Development Officer III Don Sasu in a separate interview.

Antique implemented the border control at the start of this month and made it even stricter starting Aug. 11 due to the detection of 22 local cases of the Delta variant in the province.

With the stricter provincial and municipal border controls, non-Authorized Persons Outside of Residence (APORs) are required to secure travel a pass whenever they go out to buy their food supplies.

“With the stricter border control implemented in the province, five LGUs in Antique had again requested family food packs to be distributed to their constituents,” he said.

The municipalities of Bugasong, Sebaste, Pandan, San Jose de Buenavista, and Belison requested additional stocks only this August.

Bugasong and Sebaste received 1,000 food packs each on August 11 while the municipalities of Pandan, San Jose de Buenavista, and Belison, which requested 500 food packs each, will be getting their requested augmentation anytime within the week.

Sasu said that each food pack costs around PHP540 and contains six kilos of rice, 10 canned goods, and six sachets of energy drink. (PNA)