TACLOBAN CITY, Dec.
19 -- President Rodrigo Duterte has
ordered the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and the
National Food Authority (NFA) to set up food supply depots in provinces highly
susceptible to natural disasters.
Agriculture Secretary
Emmanuel Piñol said the Chief Executive issued the directive on Monday during a
briefing at the Naval State University in Biliran after mayors in the province
complained of food supply shortage after the storm.
"The DSWD and
NFA should work on that," Piñol said in his Facebook post Tuesday, quoting
the President.
The idea of
establishing food supply depot in areas frequently hit by natural calamities is
not a new idea to Duterte, the agriculture secretary said.
“Long before he
agreed to take up the challenge to run for President, he and I already talked
about the need to ensure that there is ample food supply in areas often hit by
typhoons,” he said.
The official said the
idea came in the aftermath of super typhoon Yolanda in Eastern Visayas where
people resorted to food looting due to shortage.
“Then-Mayor Duterte said
there should be the pre-positioning of food in areas identified to be in the
path of a typhoon good for at least two weeks to forestall hunger among the
people in isolated areas,” Piñol recalled.
Duterte's idea of
food supply depots was presented during the APEC Agriculture Minister's
Conference in Peru in 2016.
On Monday, the
Department of Social Welfare and Development announced the delivery of 15,000
food packs from Cebu and 10,000 food packs from Leyte.
Duterte visited the
storm-stricken province late Monday afternoon to check the impact of the storm.
He and his Cabinet
promised to mobilize all resources to help one of the country’s smallest
provinces recover. (SQM/PNA)
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