THE Bangsamoro Ministry of Social Services and Development (MSSD), through its provincial office, has launched a sustained humanitarian response following the fire that displaced 1,000 families in Lamion village, Bongao, Tawi-Tawi.
Belinda Adil, MSSD Tawi-Tawi provincial director, said they immediately assisted affected families in various evacuation sites, providing initial relief items such as sleeping kits, cleaning kits, tarpaulins, biscuits, and bottled water.
Adil said that as part of its continuing response, they conducted internally displaced persons (IDPs) profiling, assessment, and response tracking to ensure all affected families are properly accounted for and that appropriate interventions are identified.
Adil said they also opened an additional evacuation site in Tubig Boh village, Bongao, to accommodate displaced families. Each family at the site received sleeping kits, cleaning kits, and other essential items.
She said that to further support evacuees, community kitchens in most evacuation centers were established, providing hot, ready-to-eat meals.
“We will continue the provision of hot meals, kasi as of now wala pang ability ‘yung mga evacuees to cook for themselves. We will make sure that their other needs will also be responded to by MSSD,” she said in a statement.
She added that the MSSD regional office and other agencies of the Bangsamoro Government have also sent additional resources and supplies.
Around 1,000 houses on stilts, mostly made of light materials, were destroyed in a four-hour fire, displacing around 5,000 individuals in Lamion, a coastal village in Bongao, on February 3. (SunStar Zamboanga)