Family food packs being prepared at the TS Pablo Disaster Relief Operations Center at the DPWH Depot, Panacan, Davao City.

DAVAO City -“Over 230,000 typhoon-affected families have received nearly 1.6 million food packs and other vital food assistance ,” reported Beatrice Tapawan, Program Officer, World Food Programme (WFP), during the recent TS Pablo Inter-Cluster Meeting.

Tapawan revealed 75% of family food packs came from DSWD and WFP, 18% from the Local Government Units while 7% was the share of other United Nations groups and international NGOs.

For Emergency School Feeding, Tapawan said almost 80,000 school children in 260 schools received hot and nutritious meals each day. “The food and non-food cluster on TS Pablo has established four humanitarian hubs, transported cargo from 30 planes, deployed 1,200 trucks and delivered over 25,000 metric tons of food and non-food items,” she added.

Through the Food For Work and Food for Training as well as Cash For Work and Cash for Training, the cluster carried out more than 200 projects with over 58,000 participants thus ensuring food security and spurring early recovery. Among the projects undertaken are shelter construction, vegetable production, mud crab production and banca production. The cluster aims to link these livelihood ventures with government-led programs to ensure sustainability.

In agriculture rehabilitation, initiated was rice production spanning 450 hectares and conversion of 280 hectares banana farms.

On the one hand, Rebacca A. Santamaria, DSWD Protective Services Unit, shared that among the non-food items provided to the affected families were family kits, hygiene kits, school supplies, used clothing, plastic mats, tarpauilins, solar panels, solar lanterns, chainsaws, generators and wiikhalls [large tents measuring 10 x 24 and 10 x 32 meters used as hubs].

Santamaria said some of the generators will be turned over to the local government units, Incident Command Posts or to the Neighborhood Association for Shelter Assistance while the wiikhalls will be handed down to DSWD and provincial LGUs.

The Food and Non-Food Cluster is composed of DSWD, provincial and municipal LGUs, WFP, International Committee of the Red Cross, ADRA, World Vision, International Organization for Migration and other national and international humanitarian groups. DSWD