Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 1) — The new secretary of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) wants to revise the country’s logistics setup for relief operations to make the agency more responsive.
Speaking to CNN Philippines on Wednesday, Rex Gatchalian said this was a “shared priority” with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., who is “very concerned” with climate change and its effects on relief efforts for affected families during calamities.
“Sa lawak ng Pilipinas, sabi ko kay presidente, dapat mag-set up tayo ng mas maigi pa na logistics setup,” he told News Night. “When you say logistics, ‘yan ‘yung warehousing, transport ng goods.”
[Translation: With a vast country, I told the president we should have a better logistics setup. When you say logistics, it includes warehousing, transporting of goods.]
“What I said [to the president], dapat hatiin natin into bite-sized geographic areas wherein instead of one central location ng warehousing, dapat multiple sites para you can be very omnipresent faster,” Gatchalian added.
[Translation: What I told the president is we should divide it into bite-sized geographic areas wherein instead of one central location of warehousing, it should be multiple sites so we can be very omnipresent faster.]
He said the DSWD will tap more third-party, private logistics companies to transport goods as they “can do it better.”
“It’s a superior logistics program that we’re looking at. After all, calamity management and relief operations [are] about logistics,” the secretary explained.
Climate-vulnerable Philippines faces approximately 20 tropical cyclones a year, but the effects of weather disturbances are now unpredictable due to climate change.
Gatchalian cited as an example the bad weather experienced by Eastern Visayas since Jan 2., which affected over a million residents and left several people dead.
Actions for 4Ps?
Gatchalian, who was appointed just last Tuesday, also told CNN Philippines that he is set to have a whole-day briefing with the agency’s undersecretaries on Thursday to discuss the DSWD’s programs extensively.
READ: Rex Gatchalian appointed as new DSWD chief
As for the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps), the secretary said its database must be reviewed and the DSWD should come up with an index of success measurement.
Erwin Tulfo, who previously held the position but was bypassed twice by Commission on Appointments, had started cleaning and updating the 4Ps list during his stint.
