Legazpi City, Albay – The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Field Office V-Bicol Region provided financial assistance totaling to Php92,000 to six (6) fire-stricken families across the region in January, 2026

Led by Regional Director Norman S. Laurio, DSWD Bicol through its Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situation (AICS) Program, compassionate assistance was extended to each impacted family.

The Angels in Red Vests of the Crisis Intervention Section (CIS) responded to six devastating fire incidents, including the fatal blazed in San Nicolas, Iriga City, Camarines Sur on January 30, 2026 which claimed the life of two children.

Each impacted family were provided with psychological first aid, to help them cope with the possible trauma brought by the incident, and emotional distress of losing their loved ones.

In addition to the psychosocial intervention, a total of Php72,000 in financial assistance was also given to the five (5) families as augmentation support to their basic necessities and daily subsistence. This aid is also intended to alleviate the financial challenges they are facing and support their recovery.

While Php10,000 each in funeral aid was provided to a fire-stricken family in Iriga City for the burial expenses of two victims.

Currently, similar assistance is also being arrange for the two families impacted by fire in Goa, Camarines Sur and Tabaco City, Albay.

In an interview with one of the affected clients, Reymar L. Jerez, 43 years old from Masalong, Labo, Camarines Norte, he expressed his heartfelt gratitude towards DSWD Bicol for the compassionate support they received.

“𝘕𝘢𝘴𝘶𝘯𝘶𝘨𝘢𝘯 𝘱𝘰 𝘬𝘢𝘮𝘪 𝘢𝘵 𝘭𝘢𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘱𝘰 𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘨𝘢 𝘨𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘵 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘺 𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘱𝘰𝘬. 𝘉𝘪𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘬𝘰 𝘢𝘺 𝘪𝘴𝘢𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘥 𝘭𝘢𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘨, 𝘩𝘪𝘳𝘢𝘱 𝘱𝘰 𝘢𝘬𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘢-𝘣𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘥. 𝘒𝘢𝘺𝘢 𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘨𝘢 𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘢𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘺𝘰 𝘱𝘰 𝘴𝘢 𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘺 𝘯𝘢𝘨𝘱𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘬𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘢 𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘣. 𝘓𝘶𝘣𝘰𝘴 𝘱𝘰 𝘢𝘬𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘯𝘢𝘨𝘱𝘢𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘮𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘢 𝘪𝘯𝘺𝘰 [𝘋𝘚𝘞𝘋] 𝘴𝘢 𝘵𝘶𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘯𝘢 𝘪𝘯𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘨𝘬𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘣. 𝘔𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘶𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘰 𝘪𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘢, 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘰 𝘩𝘪𝘨𝘪𝘵 𝘱𝘢 𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘮𝘢𝘵 𝘱𝘰 𝘴𝘢 𝘪𝘯𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘬𝘢𝘣𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘵,” Reymar said.

[𝗢𝘂𝗿 𝗵𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗱𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗼𝘆𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝘆 𝗮 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝗲, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗼𝗳 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗯𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝘄𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗯𝘂𝗿𝗻𝗲𝗱. 𝗔𝘀 𝗜 𝗮𝗺 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝗮 𝗯𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗮𝘆 𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗼𝗱, 𝗶𝘁 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗱𝗶𝗳𝗳𝗶𝗰𝘂𝗹𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗶𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗹𝘆. 𝗧𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝘆 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗺𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗮𝗴𝗲𝘀 𝗴𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗺𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗴𝘁𝗵 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁. 𝗜 𝗮𝗺 𝗱𝗲𝗲𝗽𝗹𝘆 𝗴𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗳𝘂𝗹 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗗𝗦𝗪𝗗 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗱. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗮𝗶𝗱 𝗶𝘀 𝗮 𝗯𝗶𝗴 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗽, 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁, 𝗜 𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗹𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗸 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻.]

Meanwhile, DSWD Bicol’s Disaster Response Management Division (DSWD) has already provided a total of Php63,290.51-worth of necessary Food and Non-Food Items (FNFIs) intended to address their basic and urgent needs.

Under the leadership of RD Laurio, the Field Office V is committed to provide faster response ensuring that timely help will reach the families affected and displaced by fire incidents.

“𝘐𝘯 2025, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘋𝘚𝘞𝘋 𝘉𝘪𝘤𝘰𝘭 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘴 𝘰𝘧 671 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵’𝘴 𝘢 𝘵𝘰𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘗𝘩𝘱5,500,000 𝘪𝘯 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘈𝘐𝘊𝘚. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘍𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘠𝘦𝘢𝘳 2026, 𝘸𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘴 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘭𝘺 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘤𝘬 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺,” RD Norman said.

As guided by the directives of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. to Secretary Rex Gatchalian, the Department ensures that the families and individuals facing emergencies are receiving the immediate aid they need.