The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) has released P64,829,829.90 in food assistance to El Niño affected families in Western Visayas, with Negros Occidental getting the biggest share.
However, the Provincial Social Welfare and Development Office has yet to release the P10 million allotted by the provincial government for drought affected farmers in Negros Occidental, PSWDO head Chiqui Gonzales said on Tuesday, May 14.
She said they are still validating the list of farmer-beneficiaries submitted by local government units and ensuring that documents are in order.
The PSWDO will try to hasten the process so the financial assistance to about 5,000 farmers can be released, she said.
Each farmer will receive P2,000 and family food packs containing 5 kilos of rice, sardines and corned beef, she said.
Meanwhile, the DSWD regional office has already released food packs worth P64,829,829.90 to El Niño affected farmers in Western Visayas.
The DSWD reported that it has served 102,817 family food packs to 102,817 families in 45 cities and municipalities of Region 6 as of May 10.
Negros Occidental received the highest number of delivered food packs with 37,367, followed by Antique with 33,054 packs, Iloilo with 18,880, Aklan with 10,707 packs, Capiz with 1,809 packs and Guimaras with 1,000 packs, the DSWD report added.
The DSWD6 through the Disaster Response Section of its Disaster Response Management Division continuously coordinates with other Local Government Units for the immediate release and distribution of food packs in their localities, it said.*