CEBU—In estimated summary, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD)-Regional Field Office VII has already disbursed over PPH 1.981 billion to about 1,074,543 million beneficiaries as of December 8, 2025, composed of families and individuals who were victims of the 6.9 magnitude earthquake, typhoons Tino and Verbena and other disasters and calamities that hit Cebu this year.
DSWD-7 regional director Shalaine Marie Lucero, in a Media Year-end Briefing and Pasalamat event on December 9 at Golden Hotel & Suites, bared that DSWD-7 delivered these vital humanitarian services, from hot meals and food packs to cash assistance, for families and individuals affected by recent disasters across Central Visayas.
“These are multi-faceted response operations for immediate relief, temporary shelter assistance, and psychosocial services in coordination with local government units (LGUs) and inter-agency partners in the region,” Lucero said.
The amount disbursed are for family food packs, family and modular tents, Hygiene Kits, Family Kits, Clothing Kits, Kitchen Kits, and other essential relief items. They also included emergency cash assistance transfers, cash assistance and disbursements for burial and other services, including purchases of Mobile Kitchen meals, Lucero bared.
Lucero added that DSWD-7 has also deployed key response vehicles to support operations for the 6.9-magnitude earthquake and Typhoon Tino. The Mobile Command Center facilitated field coordination, while the Water Tanker Unit and Water Filtration System ensured clean and safe water for affected communities.
Lucero also said the DSWD field offices in regions 6, 8, 4A, 10, 11 and NCR augmented its Mobile Kitchens, serving hot meals to displaced families. For the earthquake response, a total of 178,117 meals costing ₱7,124,680.00 were distributed, while 65,213 meals costing ₱2,608,520.00 were served during Typhoon Tino operations. “To sustain meal production, 107 DOLE TUPAD workers were hired as cooks,” Lucero shared.
Lessons
learned, challenges faced in DSWD’s humanitarian services
At the “Kukabildo with RD SHA,” Lucero stressed the importance of strategically prepositioning goods across the country to ensure readiness during stronger typhoons and unpredictable weather disturbances, with priority given to geographically isolated and disadvantaged areas, including island and coastal regions, to ensure initial supply of relief goods before disasters.
The prepositioning of goods helps mitigate the impact of impossible bridges, congested roads, and isolated ports during disaster response, “The need for immediate availability of goods during disaster response, is very crucial, especially when local government units (LGUs) lack sufficient resources,” Lucero said.
Evidenced or data-based disaster planning is a must in disaster response, Lucero noted that targeting families and individuals who are victims of calamities and disasters for government relief and assistance become easier an efficient when demographic/planning tools are in place.
“The biggest challenge we face in our humanitarian work is the politics in our country. The changes in the national and local executive’s leadership hamper the continuity of our services and inter-agency collaborations that have been in placed through the years,” Lucero said.
However, Lucero admitted that no matter how the
political system in the country behaves, the DSWD has managed to
professionalize and put into a nationwide humanitarian system that has been
proven to work efficiently and effectively in the delivery of the department’s various
programs, services and assistance to alleviate poverty in the country. (Photos: MBCNewman)
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