As the DSWD Field Office 7 continues its disaster response operations in Canlaon City, the 2nd cycle of distribution of the Family Food Packs also continues for the displaced families who live outside and inside evacuation centers.

From December 30, 2024, to January 1, 2025, the 558 families living outside the established evacuation centers received four additional FFPs.

The FFPs would last for 20 days. Each pack contains six kilos of rice, two cans of sardines, four cans of corned beef, four cans of tuna flakes, five sachets of instant coffee, and five sachets of powdered milk.

Quick Response Team Chairperson Shalaine Marie S. Lucero and Vice-Chairperson Tonyson Luther S. Lee, along with the personnel of the Food and Non-Food Item Cluster, visited the camps on January 3, 2025, which is also the last tour of duty for QRT 4.

During their camp visits, they distributed 6,900 FFPs to the 1,725 families still staying inside the 10 open evacuation centers in Canlaon City, with each family receiving four boxes of FFPs.

According to Lucero, the agency and the local government unit provide food for the families inside the camps. “Through the FFPs received, breakfast is assured for the families while LGU provides the meals for the rest of the day, which include snacks that they get mostly from the donations received by LGU,” she assured.

Both the Chair and Vice-Chair affirmed that as Alert Level 3 of Mt. Kanlaon remains and awaiting advice from the Regional Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council (RDMRRC) headed by the Office of the Civil Defense, displaced families will not be able to return to their respective homes yet.

Since the start of the disaster response operations in Canlaon City on December 9, 2024, DSWD has released 21,020 FFPs for families staying outside and inside camps.

Discharged families

The local government unit of Canlaon City has released families who can stay with their relatives or friends outside the 6 km radius of the volcano called the Permanent Danger Zone from the camps.

Lucero explained the LGU’s move to discharge. “The number of IDPs staying inside camps is starting to decrease. We cannot get hold of them since they have expressed their personal decision to go out, and it is also the discretion of the LGU to do so. But we assure them of our support upon their discharge,” she said.

She also reminded them to remain vigilant about the possible risks of an eruption as they slowly return to their communities.

A discharged family from the camp receives four family food packs, which assure them of additional food relief for the next 20 days.

With this development, camp decampment eventually happens due to the low number of occupants. The remaining IDPs will stay in other remaining camps, where they will stay, until further notice. ###

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