By Claro A. Lanipa
ZAMBOANGA CITY –
Frontline government agencies involved in the early recovery and rehabilitation
efforts of Zamboanga crisis victims convened on Monday at the Sangguniang
Panglungsod session hall to plan out the inter-cluster approach spearheaded by the
Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).
DSWD Secretary Corazon “Dinky” Soliman said, “it is
the desire of the national government to institute and explain to everyone the
cluster approach because we are now looking at the early recovery and
rehabilitation phase of the affected families.”
Fourteen barangays were affected when
the armed conflict between government forces and the ruthless Moro National
Liberation Front (MNLF) fighters erupted on September 9. Eight (8) of these
barangays were the most affected which resulted in the mass evacuation of residents
numbering to 24,794 families with 118,819 individuals as per DSWD record.
“Cluster approach is a mechanism to
address the gaps found in the different challenges that we are facing now. It aims to strengthen
coordination and determine the first point of call, responsibility and optimize
the support of government by complementing efforts between the United Nations,
inter-agency standing committee, international NGOs and the national and local
stakeholders in responding to the priority needs of the victims of disaster,”
the secretary explained.
This approach is composed of four
clusters: the relief/rehabilitation led by the DSWD; education by the Department
of Education (DepEd); protection cluster by DSWD and health cluster by the Department of Health.
Aside from frontline government
agencies, the meeting was also attended by the different non-government
organizations and civil society groups who are involved in the relief and
rehabilitation of the affected families.
Earlier, the national government had
allotted P3.89 billion which was approved by President Benigno S. Aquino III
for the continuing relief and early recovery phase of the victims to include
educational needs, temporary shelters, permanent shelters supplemental feeding,
cash for work and livelihood of the displaced families. (PIA9)