DSWD urged to set up soup kitchens in calamity areas

MANILA, Philippines - Sen. Francis Escudero has called on the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) to set up soup kitchens  in communities affected by calamities to immediately feed displaced people.

 Escudero scored the DSWD anew after the agency again distributed uncooked rice and noodles and canned goods to evacuees, not realizing that displaced people were very hungry and had no tools to cook food.

“They have no tools, their houses were even destroyed. How will they cook rice given to them? The soup kitchen should be open to them 24/7,” he said.

“Whoever is hungry can fall in line and eat. It goes on for about a week after the typhoon strikes. That is more relevant help. That is more needed help. And then after that we immediately go to rehabilitation,” he said.

“Relief operation should be more relevant, should be more realistic and not simply for show,” he added.

 Escudero said he observed that the DSWD continued to distribute uncooked food when he made the rounds in his home province of Sorsogon, one of the areas hardest hit by Typhoon Nona. He said he suggested the setting up of soup kitchens as early as November 2013, right after super Typhoon Yolanda left a trail of widespread destruction in the Visayas.

 He also observed that the efficient evacuation and relief efforts done by the local government helped the people of Sorsogon to quickly get back on their feet.

 “Two days after Nona hit, there’s no one in the evacuation center anymore. Everybody went home to try to rebuild their lives and their houses. And that’s how it should be done. It’s how we like it to be done,” he added.

 As of Dec. 22, the damage in agriculture and infrastructure caused by Nona and Tropical Depression Onyok reached P4.9 billion, according to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council.

At least 45 people were killed when the Nona and Onyok successively hit the country last week with Central Luzon, Calabarzon, Mimaropa, Bicol and Eastern Visayas suffering the most.

President Aquino declared a state of calamity on Dec. 18 to “hasten the rescue, recovery, relief and rehabilitation efforts of the government and the private sector, including any international humanitarian assistance.”