Visayas Disaster Response Center opens in Mandaue City

MANILA, Philippines -- The government opened a disaster response center in Mandaue City in Cebu province on Wednesday that can produce 50,000 family food packs a day -- enough to feed 250,000 people for three days should disaster strike in the region.

The 5,000-square meter Visayas DRC houses a mechanized production system and was conceived in response to the challenging demands of a larger-scale humanitarian relief as in the wake of Typhoon Yolanda in 2013, the Official Gazette said.

The DRC has a pallet racking system for better storage of food packs and warehousing food and non-food commodities, guaranteeing quality stockpiles of family food packs and other humanitarian assistance for distribution. The center also has spaces for training sessions and offices.

The center was built as part of a strategic partnership between the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) funded by Australian and British governments.

“These DRCs bring the humanitarian response of government closest to the people needing support. As in the case of El Niño, these DRCs can make food packages more accessible to disaster-affected areas in all parts of the country,” DSWD Secretary Zorazon Juliano-Soliman said.

“The inauguration of the Visayas disaster response center is a significant step towards decentralizing the Philippine government’s emergency response. With help from our donors, WFP will continue to support the Philippines by establishing respective DRCs in Luzon and Mindanao.” Praveen Agrawal, WFP Philippines Representative and Country Director said.

WFP also provides technical training to key government representatives on disaster response logistics and supply chain management. - Gerald Guerrero, intern