ILOILO City – Bracing for the fallout of Boracay Island’s impending six-month closure, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Region 6 has convened its disaster response cluster.
“Displaced families are our utmost concern,” said Delia Villa-Bagolcol, assistant regional director for operations.
DSWD-6 already prepositioned relief goods in Malay, Aklan, the local government unit that has jurisdiction over Boracay.
The disaster response cluster is composed of its technical persons, Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Office of Civil Defense, Philippine Coast Guard, Philippine Army, and Philippine Information Agency.
“Families most likely to be affected are informal settlers. They are our priority,” said Bagolcol.
She, however, stressed it is the local government of Malay that should be at the forefront of crisis response.
“We will just be ready to augment it,” said Bagolcol.
Boracay’s temporary closure starts on April 26.
DSWD-6 will also assist 28 households that were issued with notices to vacate, she added.
These households were found to be encroaching on Boracay’s forestland areas.
“We will be helping them. We will coordinate with the local government for their relocation” said Bagolcol.
Citing the 2015 census, DSWD-6 estimated some 6,829 households would be affected by Boracay’s temporary shutdown.
As of 2015, Boracay’s population was at 58,000.
Regional Director Rebecca Geamala previously said DSWD-6 would be opening a one-stop-shop operation center in Barangay Balabag, Boracay Island.
“It is where the staff of DSWD-6 and other agencies can work together and converge efforts in addressing the needs of Boracay’s residents and those of non-residents alike affected by the island’s closure,” said Geamala.
DSWD-6 has a standby fund of P6.2 million for disaster operations. It also has stockpiled some 30,000 family food packs, each costing P360 per pack.
“Once a state of calamity has been declared in Boracay, we could utilize these,” said Geamala./PN
