Cagayan de Oro City, Philippines – The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) and the Philippine Government are extending the emergency response to Tropical Storm Washi to focus on remote, cut-off areas around Iligan City.
Working closely with the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and with airlift support from the Armed Forces of the Philippines, WFP has already supplied emergency food assistance to almost 3,300 people stranded in Mungulong, outside Iligan City.
Plans are now underway to airlift food rations to other isolated communities around Iligan City such as Panoroganan where almost a thousand people are in need, and Mainit, where another 1,350 people require assistance.
“WFP continues to support the Philippine government’s relief efforts, and we are grateful to the Armed Forces of the Philippines for providing the necessary logistical support that enables us to reach people in these remote areas,” said WFP Country Director and Representative Stephen Anderson. “These are vital supplies which will help them get through this difficult time.”
WFP is also dispatching rice and vegetable oil in trucks provided by the Armed Forces of the Philippines, to the areas of Santiago, Hinaplanon, Mahayahay and Tipanoy within Iligan City, and beyond to Rogongan, Digkilaan, Bonbonen, and Kalilangan.
In response to a request from the Department of Education, and in coordination with UNICEF and Save the Children, WFP will also provide short-term emergency school meals to 40,000 displaced children returning to school.
As part of recovery efforts, WFP is stepping up its support to initiatives such as debris clearing and school repair activities through food-for-work projects.
WFP, in partnership with DSWD, is currently conducting relief and early recovery operations in Cagayan de Oro, Iligan and parts of Lanao del Sur. A total of 207,500 people affected by Tropical Storm Washi have been reached by WFP emergency food assistance since relief operations began on December 19.
