THE Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) is expanding disaster preparedness efforts after installing five mechanized production systems to boost output of family food packs and maximize its 5.2 million-pack storage capacity across 1,000 warehouses nationwide, with four million packs already prepositioned.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and DSWD Secretary Rex Gatchalian inspected the new machines Thursday, Feb. 26, 2026, at the Visayas Disaster Resource Center in Barangay Tingub, Mandaue City. Marcos said daily production has increased from 5,000 to 8,000 packs under manual operations to as many as 30,000 packs daily when the machines operate at full capacity.
Gatchalian, for his part, said stockpiled food packs have risen to four million from three million last year, with both the Luzon and Visayas disaster resource centers having new machines. The agency aims to fill its 5.2 million-pack capacity but continues to dispatch supplies for recurring calamities.
Before automation, the Visayas center relied on manual packing. Each of the five mechanized lines, equipped with vacuum packaging technology, can produce more than 4,000 packs in an eight-hour shift. The P117.98 million project was funded through the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Fund.
Gatchalian said production continues year-round in compliance with the president’s directive for 365-day disaster readiness.
“Even without a disaster, production continues. We do not prepare only when a disaster strikes — we prepare 365 days a year,” he said.
Mindanao center underway
Marcos said a Mindanao Disaster Resource Center is under construction in Butuan City and is expected to be operational by late this year or early 2027, adding another 30,000 packs per day to overall capacity.
Operations at the Visayas center are supported by DSWD personnel, more than 230 cash-for-work beneficiaries receiving minimum wage and volunteers. Gatchalian said workers affected by mechanization are redeployed to community-based tasks.
Marcos and Gatchalian also visited Thursday DSWD 7’s Pag-abot Processing Center in Barangay Tayud, Liloan, in northern Cebu. This P17.99 million facility can temporarily house up to 100 street children, individuals and families in Central Visayas. The center serves as a 30-day processing and intervention site before beneficiaries return to their home provinces with livelihood grants under the Pag-abot Program pursuant to Executive Order 52.
Gatchalian said the facility provides temporary shelter, assessment and monitoring in coordination with local government units through an automated database system. It targets street dwellers in Cebu City, Mandaue City, Lapu-Lapu City and Talisay City. / CDF