THE Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) officially accepted on Monday, January 15, from the Government of the Russian Federation (GRF) donations intended for internally displaced persons (IDPs) affected by the series of disasters that hit the country.
The donations will be distributed to people affected by the fighting in Marawi City, by Tropical Depression Urduja, Severe Tropical Storm Vinta, and the recent Tropical Depression Agaton.
The turnover of goods was also done in Iligan City.
DSWD Undersecretary Luzviminda Ilagan, of the Legislative Liaison Affairs and Special Presidential Directives in the Mindanao Region, accepted the humanitarian aid on behalf of the agency from His Excellency Igor Anatolyevich Khovaev, ambassador of the Russian Federation to the Philippines, and Honorable Igor Veselov, acting director-general of the Department of International Activity of The Ministry of the Russian Federation for Civil Defense, Emergencies and Elimination of Consequences of Natural Disasters.
Ilagan accepted the donations with Nestor B. Ramos, DSWD regional director Field Office (FO)-Northern Mindanao, and FO-Soccsksargen Director Zorahayda Taha, who are on top of the disaster relief operations in the two regions, respectively.
The Russian federation's support to the country's efforts in response to the needs of IDPs of various disasters, especially those affected by the Marawi crisis, is important to so many who have lost their homes and sources of livelihood because of the five-month-old armed conflict.
"Russia's assistance will also benefit those displaced by the severe Tropical Storm 'Vinta,' who lost everything due to severe flooding and landslides. The donated goods will augment government relief items that we provide to displaced families and offer a variety of relief supplies to the affected individuals," Ilagan said.
The first batch of the donations, which arrived on January 3, included one van containing 500 bags of rice. The second batch, which arrived on January 9, consists three vans (1,500 bags) of rice, five vans (2,460 bags) of sugar, four refrigerated vans (208,035 cans) of canned milk, and four refrigerated vans (130,815 cans of 338 grams and 103,968 cans of 325 grams) of canned meat or beef stew.
The third batch of donations arrived on January 13. It had four vans containing 2,955 pieces of sawn softwood.
"The aid is a proof that international solidarity continues to prosper between the Philippine government and the Russian Federation," DSWD said.
"Rest assured that the donated goods, coursed through the DSWD, will reach the intended beneficiaries. We will do our best to facilitate the immediate allocation and distribution of the goods to the affected families," DSWD said.