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(File photo) MANILA - The United States government, through the US Agency for International Development (USAID), is providing an additional PHP51.1 million to help transport relief supplies to communities affected by Typhoon Odette. This fresh aid brings the total US assistance to more than PHP1.08 billion, the US Embassy in Manila said Thursday. "As friends, partners, and allies, we will continue to support the Philippines in its post-typhoon recovery," US Embassy Charge d'Affaires ad interim Heather Variava said. "This additional assistance will help deliver food and other essential items to communities devastated by the typhoon." In coordination with the Office of Civil Defense (OCD), USAID and the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) will deploy an additional 300 trucks to transport food and other supplies to typhoon-affected areas. This partnership will also support OCD in delivering relief supplies to remote municipalities and barangays. Sarah Charles, assistant to the administrator of USAID's Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance, announced this additional support at a virtual UN briefing on February 2. It builds on the US government's PHP1 billion assistance announced last December to provide food; water, sanitation, and hygiene programs; shelter assistance; and logistics support to typhoon-affected communities. As of January 28, USAID and WFP have already provided more than 300 trucks to transport approximately 350,000 household food rations, as well as hygiene kits, kitchen sets, and shelter kits to communities devastated by Typhoon Odette, the Embassy said. USAID, through its partners, has also helped manage evacuation shelters, deployed mobile operations vehicles to support emergency telecommunications, and provided heavy-duty plastic sheeting to meet the shelter needs of 4,800 families. "The United States will continue to partner with the Philippines to respond to natural disasters and support Filipinos in their recovery efforts," the Embassy said. (PNA) }
AID FOR TYPHOON VICTIMS. Family food packs stored inside the warehouse of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) in Palo, Leyte in this undated photo. The DSWD has already released PHP125 million worth of assistance to families badly affected by Typhoon Odette in the past six weeks, the agency reported on Wednesday (Feb. 2, 2022).(Photo courtesy of DSWD) TACLOBAN CITY - The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) has released PHP125 million worth of assistance to families in Eastern Visayas (Region 8) badly affected by Typhoon Odette in the past six weeks, the agency reported on Wednesday. A total of 173,340 family food packs (FFPs) worth PHP101 million have been distributed to typhoon victims in the provinces of Southern Leyte, Leyte, and Eastern Samar said DSWD Eastern Visayas regional director Grace Subong. Each FFP contains six kilos of rice, four cans of corned beef, four cans of tuna flakes, two cans of sardines, five sachets of coffee, and five sachets of cereal drink. It is sufficient for a family of five for two to three days. "We have projected to release 106,000 food packs to Typhoon Odette victims in the region, but we have been producing more since there are still requests from local government units for more food packs. There are areas where we have done the second and third round of distribution," Subong said in a phone interview. In terms of non-food items, some PHP24 million worth of supplies have been delivered to typhoon victims in Southern Leyte and Leyte provinces. Non-food supplies include hygiene kits, kitchen sets, sleeping kits, collapsible water containers, and laminated sacks. The DSWD released FFPs in Leyte for the towns of Dulag, Hilongos, Hindang, Matalom, Tacloban City, Bato, Inopacan, Javier, Abuyog, and Mahaplag. In Southern Leyte, recipients are from the towns of Anahawan, Hinunangan, Hinundayan, St. Bernard, San Juan, Silago, Liloan, Pintuyan, San Francisco, San Ricardo, Bontoc, Libagon, Limasawa, Maasin City, Macrohon, Malitbog, Padre Burgos, Sogod, and Tomas Oppus. The agency also delivered food packs to Mercedes town in Eastern Samar province. Since typhoon-hit areas are now in the early recovery phase, the DSWD will just send assistance to areas that need most, according to Subong. The DSWD has been coordinating with other members of the Regional Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council to fast-track the distribution of post-typhoon aids. On December 16, "Odette" barreled through Caraga and Eastern Visayas regions with maximum sustained winds of 195 kph near the center and gustiness of up to 270 kph. After hitting Surigao, it made two landfalls in Southern Leyte before devastating Central Visayas. (PNA) }