Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, June 10) — The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) is “geared up” for potential calamities as the country faces the unrest of two volcanoes and the effects of a typhoon blowing through Philippine seas, Secretary Rex Gatchalian said on Saturday.
“On the side of the national government, sa [in] DSWD, we’re ready for all these multiple potential calamities,” Gatchalian told a briefing in Albay. “We’re looking closely at Mayon (Volcano), at Taal (Volcano), and at (Typhoon) Chedeng, so the response side of DSWD has been geared up for this type of things.”
“I’m sure the governor will answer for this province but what I’m doing here now is we have to synchronize our efforts and complement our efforts para walang [so there are no] redundancies and walang [no] overlaps,” the DSWD chief added.
For his part, Albay Gov. Edcel Greco Lagman said it is “second nature” to people of Albay to respond accordingly to calamities and “make sure na wala tayong [we don’t have] casualties for any compounded calamities that may happen.”
Albay is currently under a state of calamity following the raising of the alert level of Mayon Volcano to Level 3, which means the possibility of a hazardous eruption within weeks or even days.
Gatchalian said Mayon is “on top of the list” of things President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. wants monitored.
RELATED: Marcos may visit Mayon-affected areas, says DSWD chief
The Albay government said it aims to evacuate over the weekend some 10,000 families living within the 6-kilometer radius Permanent Danger Zone and the 7-kilometer radius Extended Danger Zone.
The social welfare secretary said he has orders from the president to provide necessary logistic support to affected areas in Albay. He said 60,000 of 102,000 food packs prepared by the agency were sent to Albay, while the rest were directed to neighboring areas.
Gatchalian also said the DSWD can also launch a cash-for-work program and conduct emergency cash transfers as part of early recovery, but he requested mayors to first organize the dates of food pack distribution.
“We are also putting that on the table as something that we can help you with when the time comes na kailangan na natin, sana wag naman, in the event na medyo maging pangit ‘yong maging result ng volcanic eruption [and] if you need to clean up,” Gatchalian said of a possible cash-for-work program.
[Translation: We are also putting that on the table as something that we can help you with when the time comes that we need to, we hope not, in the event that there will be an unpleasant result of a volcanic eruption and if you need to clean up.]
In Batangas, Taal Volcano remains under Alert Level 1, described as “low level unrest,” with state volcanologists reporting a sulfur dioxide emission level of 2,941 tons per day on Thursday. They also observed Taal emitting a plume 1,500 meters high.
READ: Over 100 residents near Taal fall ill as the volcano emits harmful gas
Meanwhile, Typhoon Chedeng is slowly moving over the Philippine Sea to leave the country’s weather monitoring area by Monday.
Chedeng remains far away from land and has been enhancing the southwest monsoon or habagat that bring gusty conditions in some Luzon and Visayas areas.
