Following the earlier announcement of Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Secretary Judy M. Taguiwalo on the provision of a one-time cash assistance worth P1,000 to families displaced by the ongoing armed conflict in Marawi, the Department is now drafting the guidelines to ensure proper and smooth distribution of the aid to the evacuees.
The cash assistance, which will be undertaken through the Department’s Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situations (AICS), is intended for evacuees’ purchase of food during the Ramadan season. The aid is on top of the family food packs (FFPs) and non-food items provided to the affected families.
“We are now drafting the guidelines for the distribution of the cash aid to our fellow citizens affected by the armed conflict. Once we finish the guidelines, we will download the funds to our concerned field offices so they can immediately start the distribution. Our goal is to distribute the assistance as soon as possible so the evacuees may start using it,” Sec. Taguiwalo said.
The Secretary added that the DSWD will also resolve issues on the duplication of the names of the internally displaced persons (IDPs) under its profiling and matching systems to ensure equal distribution of resources to the affected families.
As of 2AM today, the crisis has so far displaced a total of 65,198 families or 316,684 individuals in Marawi City and Marantao, Lanao Del Sur. Of this number, 3, 074 families or 14,772 persons are still staying in 68 evacuation centers (ECs), while a bigger portion of the affected families, numbering to 58,801 families or 285,617 persons are taking shelter outside evacuation centers with their relatives or friends in Regions VII, X, XI, XII, Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), and Negros Island Region (NIR).
As the armed operation in Marawi continues, the DSWD through its Field Offices (FOs) is also continuously providing assistance to the affected families.
Yesterday, Sec. Taguiwalo met with the evacuees from Marawi who fled to their relatives in Dumaguete City. DSWD-FO NIR has earlier provided FFPs and non-food items to the evacuees in the region and is coordinating with the local government unit (LGU) and local government agencies for the possible provision of livelihood assistance to the affected families.###
