The Department of Social Welfare and Development has released P1.5 billion in assistance to the victims Tropical Storm “Paeng”, Typhoon “Odette”, the armed conflict in Himamaylan City, indigent senior citizens and to Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program beneficiaries in Negros Occidental this year, May Rago Castillo, DSWD 6 spokesperson, said Monday, November 7.
The DSWD provided P6,555,818 in food and non-food assistance to the victims of the recent Tropical Storm “Paeng” in Negros Occidental, Castillo said.
Paeng destroyed 130 houses and damaged 1,191, and affected 175,199 residents in the province, she said.
The DSWD provides P5,000 in assistance for destroyed houses and P3,000 for damaged houses but the allocation for Negros Occidental has yet to be released, she said.
The DSWD had already began releasing housing assistance in Panay that was the worst hit by “Paeng” in Western Visayas, Castillo said.
The DSWD also assisted 75,290 residents in Negros Occidental who were victims of Typhoon Odette with P276 million, she added.
It has also released P11,810,747 in assistance to persons affected by the recent armed conflict between government and rebel forces in Himamaylan City.
The assistance provided were family food packs, hygiene kits, sleeping kits and financial assistant to 3,313 most affected residents, Rago said.
The Himamaylan City local government also released P4,284,480 worth of assistance, she added.
Affected were 26,272 persons from barangays Carabalan, Cabadiangan and III Poblacion in Himamaylan and Barangay Biao in Binalbagan, she said.
The DSWD has also provided P80,776,500 in social pensions to 53,851 indigent senior citizens in Negros Occidental in the first three quarters of this year, Castillo said.
It has also released P558,328,500 to 131,923 Pantawid beneficiaries from February to March and P581,397,900 to 133,179 beneficiaries from April to May, Emile Octavio, 4Ps provincial link, said.
She said the payouts to 20 beneficiaries in Bacolod were suspended because they pawned their 4Ps cards, which is not allowed.*