OVER P1.11 billion worth of government aid was provided to thousands of people, who were affected by Tropical Storm Florita (international code name Ma-on).
The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) disclosed the assistance was distributed in areas in Regions 1, 2, 3 as well as the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) and the National Capital Region (NCR), which were hit by Florita. “These were given to the affected families as well as those in the evacuation centers,” Social Welfare Undersecretary Mario R. Bautista said in a press conference in Malacañang on Wednesday.
He said this augmented the P82,000 worth of food packs, hygiene kits, clothing, kitchen kits, which were extended by concerned local government units (LGU) storm victims.
Based on their latest data, DSWD said it registered 2,213 families, which is equivalent to a total of 7,616 persons, in storm-hit areas.
Social Welfare Secretary Erwin T. Tulfo said many of the families have already returned to their homes as of Wednesday as the floods in their areas receded.
The heavy rains and floods caused by Tropical storm Florita prompted President Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos Jr. to suspend government offices and classes in public schools in NCR, Cavite, Laguna, Rizal, Bulacan, Zambales and Bataan. Aside from displacing people, the storm also caused damage to agriculture.
Based on their initial assessment, Agriculture Undersecretary Kristine Y. Evangelista said Florita caused P3 million worth of damage to 628 hectares of agricultural land in Ilocos Norte.
“We will also see if other regions are affected as mentioned a while ago. We are also looking into Cagayan if there are any damages that have to be reported,” Evangelista said.