BUTUAN CITY – The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) provided assistance to the victims of typhoon Pablo in Caraga region especially to the areas that were greatly affected by the typhoon.

Typhoon Pablo destroyed houses, livelihoods and infrastructures in some areas here in Caraga when it entered the municipality of Hinatuan, Surigao del Sur dawn of December 4, 2012. To closely monitor the situation in the evacuation centers and to immediately provide assistance, the Department has installed a skeletal team in the regional office who worked 24 hours with three shifts.

Pablo’s aftermath left hundreds of residents in Caraga homeless and thousands in evacuation centers. The Department, as lead agency in providing assistance to disadvantage individuals, families and communities has extended assistance to the victims.

As of December 15, 2012, total cost of assistance provided by DSWD Caraga amounted to                             P 9, 999,947.30. DSWD has also distributed 19,040 family packs to the seven municipalities greatly affected by the typhoon. These municipalities were Hinatuan, Lingig and Bislig City of Surigao del Sur Province; Municipalities of Veruela, Sta. Josefa and Trento in Agusan del Sur province and Dapa, an island municipality of Surigao del Norte province. Each family pack costs P263.13, containing 2 kilos of rice, 6 pieces of canned goods, 6 pieces of noodles and 6 sachet of 3 in coffee.

Moreover, the Department is planning to give the affected families noche buena packs on December 22-24, 2012. The noche Buena packs contain 2 big loaves of bread, 2 medium bottles of peanut butter, 2 bottles of soda/soft drinks (1.5 liters), 6 fruits (apples and oranges) and candies and cookies.

As of this moment, the Department is still closely monitoring the situation of these municipalities and is still willing to provide assistance to municipalities that need support. DSWD also deployed social workers to asses and provide debriefings to the affected families. ### (Social Marketing Unit)