Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, June 29) — The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) on Thursday said it aims to boost disaster preparedness through its “Buong Bansa Handa” program, particularly by creating two supply chain mechanisms that will ensure efficient distribution and prepositioning of relief goods.
“One is owned and ran by the government. The other one is procured by government using the existing warehouse facilities of our grocers, our food suppliers,” Secretary Rex Gatchalian told reporters on the sidelines of the DSWD’s Partnership Forum.
“Having two supply chains is always important because that provides you that added cushion if something happens to another one,” he added.
The DSWD chief also said they have expanded the government-driven supply chain after making the rounds in local government units (LGUs) and other agencies in the past five months.
“The first line is expanding our existing series of warehouses that are government-owned and -operated. So, in the past five months, we took stock of what we have. We reached out to LGU partners that have more capacities to share, other national government agencies,” the secretary shared.
Aside from engaging all levels of government, Gatchalian said the program – which is expected to be launched soon – aims to engage the private sector to aid in mobilizing resources during disasters and crises.
“But the more crucial innovation there is leveraging on the private sector’s supply chain through framework agreement. See, framework agreements are like you bid out a supply contract and you don’t pay them until you draw down. These are allowed in the procurement law,” he explained.
