The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) continues to augment the resources of the local government units (LGUs) of Basilan for families displaced by the military operations against the Abu Sayyaf Group.
At least 1,729 families or 6,218 persons from the municipalities of Sumisip, Tuburan, Hadji Mohammad Ajul, and Akbar continue to take temporary shelter in their friends’ and relatives’ houses pending declaration from authorities on the safety of their villages.
To date, DSWD-Field Office (FO) 9, the nearest regional office to the conflict area, has dispatched a total of 8,500 family food packs to Basilan.
In early August, some 6,000 food packs were provided while another 2,500 packs were extended on September 21.
The total amount of DSWD resource augmentation to Basilan is P3,060,000.
In a related development, the Basilan Provincial Social Welfare and Development Office reported that an unidentified number of displaced families from the towns of Albarka, Tipo-tipo and Ungkaya Pukan began returning to their homes as a result of the activity conducted by the provincial government and other agencies dubbed as “People’s Day” last September 18. (Ellalyn B. De Vera)
