The Ministry of Social Services and Development (MSSD) provides relief assistance on Oct. 18 to 105 fire-affected families in Cotabato City. (Photo courtesy of MSSD)
COTABATO CITY—Bangsamoro Government’s Ministry of Social Services and Development (MSSD) provided emergency relief assistance to 105 families affected by recent fire incidents across various barangays here on Oct. 18, 2024.
According to the Ministry’s report, the beneficiaries of the fire incidents across the city include 76 from Poblacion VII, 24 from Rosary Heights IV, three from Kalanganan I, and one from Poblacion III and Mother Barangay (MB) Kalanganan, respectively.
Distributed were 25 kilograms of rice, assorted canned goods, and instant coffee. Moreover, sleeping, dignity, cooking, hygiene, cleaning, infant, and elderly kits were given.
MSSD also announced that further assessments will be conducted in order for the fire casualties to be qualified for the Emergency Shelter Assistance (ESA) program—one designed to provide shelter help to vulnerable sectors and communities, including internally displaced persons (IDPs), in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), who are affected by disastrous calamities.
“In addition, the fire-affected families have been enrolled in the Internally Displaced Persons Profiling and Response Tracking System (I-Part) of the Disaster Risk Information Management Section (DRIMS) and have been assessed for the Emergency Shelter Assistance of MSSD,” the Ministry posted on Facebook.
This relief assistance was made possible through the MSSD’s Emergency Relief Assistance (ERA) program, which provides vital support to Bangsamoro communities impacted by natural or human-induced disasters.
Boosting responsiveness and timeliness of social protection services to mitigate vulnerability to environmental shocks and disasters is the seventh priority agenda of Bangsamoro Chief Minister Ahod Ebrahim. (Johamin Inok/BIO with reports from MSSD)
