Through DSWD-Ilocos Region, the program will provide temporary employment for affected families in the province.

Likewise, volunteer workers of Bangon Northern Luzon have mounted emergency relief operations in Cagayan, the hardest hit province.

As of Tuesday, the relief operation already distributed 1,500 packages to families and individuals in partnership with the Office of the Presidential Adviser for Northern Luzon headed by Secretary Raul L. Lambino. Lambino is also the administrator and CEO of the Cagayan Economic Zone Authority (CEZA) through which the relief effort is being coordinated.

The Ilocos Norte assistance will be implemented under DSWD’s Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation (CCAM) program, which focuses on alleviating the long-term impacts of climate change.

The participants of the program are expected to engage in a 10-day community work, which includes the rehabilitation and maintenance of mangroves and denuded watershed areas, and establishment of green walls.

“DSWD is working closely with local government units (LGUs) to ensure that the implementation of cash-for-work and CCAM will be beneficial to rehabilitate affected communities and to ensure that the long-term hazards and risks of climate change will be reduced, especially in the poor and vulnerable areas,” DSWD Secretary Virginia Orogo said.

To date, the DSWD has already provided ₱35,400,609.15 worth of assistance to affected families and individuals inside and outside evacuation centers, while ₱12,250,047.18 worth of aid was given by LGUs, ₱510,370 from NGOs, and ₱203,070 from other private partners.

Meanwhile, Joseph Garcia, the spokesman of the lead organization, Andres P. Tamayo Sr. Foundation, Inc (APTSFI) in the Bangon Northern Luzon, said “our aim is to help address the immediate needs of families affected by the strongest typhoon to hit the country this year.”

The relief drive also includes rehabilitation assistance, Garcia said, and will reach across parts of Northern Luzon that bore the brunt of Ompong’s destructive 205-kph winds.

Each relief pack, Garcia said, contains basic goods such as blanket, sleeping mat, medicines, rice, noodles, bottled water and water pail.

A second batch of 1,500 relief packs was en route to Cagayan while another truck load of relief packs were sent to Nueva Vizcaya, he said.

“DDT Construct, Inc. and Whiteport, Inc., two construction companies behind the APTSFI, jumpstarted the relief operations through the two companies corporate contributions,” Garcia said.

Aside from the APTSFI and CEZA, both entities have carried out relief works in the past, Garcia identified five partner organizations in the Bangon Northern Luzon relief effort.

These are the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI), Rotary Club of Makati South, Rotary International District 3830, APO United International Organization Inc. and the Association for Philippines-China Understanding (APCU).

By: Ellalyn De Vera-Ruiz – https://news.mb.com.ph/2018/09/20/ompong-victims-in-cagayan-ilocos-norte-get-assistance/