The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) in Eastern Visayas has forged a partnership with the Eastern Samar State University (ESSU) to use its campus facilities in the prepositioning of relief goods before and during typhoons.

DSWD Regional Director Grace Subong and ESSU President Andres Pagatpat Jr. signed a memorandum of agreement on Tuesday to use some of its rooms as a temporary warehouse of family food packs and other relief items.

These facilities are located at the ESSU main campus in Borongan City and satellite campuses in Can-avid, and Salcedo towns.

The purpose is to ensure faster distribution of relief goods to flood-prone communities in the province.

“This is part of DSWD’s strategy to preposition relief items in different parts of the region. Through prepositioning, DSWD stores relief items in strategic locations before a storm or disaster occurs. During a disaster, these stored relief items can be used as the main help to the municipalities who will request. Because of this, DSWD will respond faster to disasters,” Subong said in a statement on Wednesday.

The DSWD has been storing its prepositioned relief items for Eastern Samar inside its regional resource operations center in Palo, Leyte. Some stocks are temporarily stored in local government facilities.

Currently, DSWD Eastern Visayas has 14,994 family food packs in stock, including 11,694 in the DSWD regional resource operations section warehouse in Palo, Leyte; 800 in Allen, Northern Samar; 800 in Catarman, Northern Samar; 100 in Naval, Biliran; 200 in Maasin City, Southern Leyte; 700 in ESSU Can-avid, Eastern Samar; and 700 in ESSU Borongan City, Eastern Samar.

The family food pack, which consists of rice, canned goods, and coffee, can be packed in a small box for one family. (PNA)