A total of 15 mobile kitchens are now ready for delivery to the different Field Offices of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) to boost disaster response operations, an agency official said on Thursday.

Special Assistant to the Secretary for Disaster Response Management Group and concurrent officer-in-charge of the National Resource and Logistics Management Bureau Leo Quintilla said the mobile kitchen is another innovation of the DSWD in response to the challenges brought by the “new normal” in terms of disasters.

“The mobile kitchen is part of the ongoing innovations being done in line with DSWD Secretary Rex Gatchalian’s instructions to ensure that the needs of affected families are addressed with adequate, sustained and compassionate disaster response measures,” Quintilla said during a media forum at the DSWD Central Office in Quezon City Thursday.

He said the mobile kitchens had already been delivered at the National Resource Operations Center (NROC) in Pasay City and are currently being inspected according to specifications before these are officially transferred to the DSWD Field Offices.

The National Capital Region Field Office is not one of the recipients as the region already has a mobile kitchen previously donated by the World Food Programme (WFP).

A mobile kitchen is a 4×4 six-wheeler truck equipped with a generator, freezer, tabletop oven, four heavy-duty single-burner gas stoves, 200-liter stainless steel water tank, complete kitchen tools and utensils, and stainless sink with grease tarp.

“The mobile kitchens are equipped in serving hot meals to at least 500 individuals per meal. It will primarily address hunger issues of internally displaced families during disasters, including those staying outside and inside evacuation centers, from the pre-emptive evacuation to the post-disaster phase,” Quintilla said.

The provision of hot meals in evacuation centers through the mobile kitchen is especially significant in a prolonged disaster response, according to the DSWD official.

“For example, sa Mt. Kanlaon, hindi pwedeng sa next one month, food packs lang tayo (it should not be just food packs again in the next month), there will be food pack fatigue. So, we also need to serve hot meals,” he said.

“Alternate yan na hot meals then food packs. Kailangan din ng vegetables, kailangan din balanse tayo kahit sa evacuation center. Ito ngayon ang role na gagampanan ng (It should be alternate, hot meals then food packs. Vegetables are also needed; balanced meals are also needed even in evacuation centers. That will be the role of the) mobile kitchens.”

Quintilla added the mobile kitchen will also serve those in geographically isolated and disadvantaged (GIDA) areas, especially 4th and 5th class municipalities during disasters.

The mobile kitchen will also cater to those stranded in major ports and airports and other areas as a result of a disaster.

He said a regional Mobile Kitchen Deployment Team composed of a safety officer, cook, kitchen worker, supply custodian and a driver will be needed under the mobile command center.

The operationalization of the mobile kitchen will also have specific triggers for deployment: agency disaster response; directives from the Secretary; requests from DSWD officers, and bureaus for agency programs; and requests from partners, like the Office of Civil Defense, for disaster response.

Quintilla said the DSWD is finalizing operational procedures to include staff training, identification of meal plans, and supply measures to ensure that once transferred to the regional offices, the mobile kitchens can be immediately deployed as needed. (PNA)