Despite staying in temporary shelters, families affected by the magnitude 6.9 tremor will still have a taste of home-cooked food as the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) deployed three more mobile kitchens to serve hot meals in select evacuation sites.
In a statement, Assistant Secretary Irene Dumlao of the DSWD’s Disaster Response Management Group said the agency’s offices in Calabarzon, Eastern Visayas, and Western Visayas have sent their mobile kitchens to augment the resources of DSWD 7 (Central Visayas) to ensure that Cebuanos will not go hungry during these difficult times, as instructed by President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.
“Each region is allocated with a mobile kitchen as part of the department’s intensified disaster response initiatives. The food truck facilities were distributed to the field offices in the first quarter of the year,” Dumlao said.
With thousands of affected families displaced by the temblor that struck Cebu’s northeastern towns and cities on Sept. 30, the DSWD has provided a steady supply of relief items composed of family food packs (FFPs), ready-to-eat food (RTEF), and hot meals.
“With extended period of disaster relief and recovery, the provision of hot meals is important to prevent the affected individuals and families from suffering ‘FFP-fatigue.’ Moreso, the DSWD recognizes the importance of ensuring that evacuees have access to nutritious food at this unfortunate time,” she said.
The mobile kitchen of DSWD-7 has been deployed to Bogo City since Oct. 1.
The mobile kitchen from Western Visayas arrived early on Saturday and proceeded to the San Remigio Sports Complex in San Remigio town.
The mobile kitchens from Calabarzon and Eastern Visayas are en route to Cebu and are expected to arrive and be operational either by Sunday or Monday.
Aside from the mobile kitchens, the various DSWD field offices also sent their disaster teams to assist in the relief operations of DSWD-7. (PNA)