Albay and Catanduanes – The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Region V continuously provides cash assistance under Emergency Shelter Assistance (ESA) and Cash-for-Work (CFW) programs to families with totally damaged houses due to super typhoon Rolly. Since its distribution commenced last December 3, the agency has already distributed PhP 50,055,100.00 to 3,821 beneficiaries in Catanduanes alone. In Albay, a total of 3,793 ESA and 1,063 CFW beneficiaries already received cash assistance amounting to a total of PhP 41,225,300.00.
Assistance extended to Catanduanes and Albay
Mrs. Cherry Gonzales, resident of barangay Batag in Virac mentioned in an interview that numerous aids have been extended to them immediately after the onslaught of STY Rolly. She said that DSWD have provided food items, hygiene kits, sleeping kits, and laminated sacks intended for severely affected population. Several Non-Government Organizations (NGOs) have also provided relief goods to residents of affected municipalities in Catanduanes.
In Albay, affected families were given relief goods and immediate cash assistance under DSWD’s Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situation (AICS) along with assistance from Taiwan-based Tzu Chi Foundation.
In addition to food and non-food items, the agency along with NGOs and LGUs also conducted psychological intervention to the survivors to help them process traumatic experiences during the disaster.
Recovering from the disasters
Both ESA and CFW are DSWD programs under early recovery phase which will be distributed to selected municipalities in Albay and Catanduanes. The ESA aims to lessen further exposure of families with damaged houses to vulnerabilities by providing them with initial funding to help them rebuild their home (DSWD, 2020).
Cash-for-Work is also provided to support rebuilding of damaged houses. Each CFW beneficiary will be receiving daily salary equal to 100% of Regional Daily Minimum Wage Rate (PhP 310.00/day) for 10 days.
The Disaster Response Management Division (DRMD) of DSWD Region V is currently processing ESA forms and other documents to finalize payroll for ESA and CFW. ###