Caritas Switzerland, through its back donors Caritas Austria, Caritas Luxembourg, Caritas Germany and Swiss Solidarity, is providing emergency and early recovery assistance to 1,617 flood-affected families in Muntinlupa, Pangasinan, Laguna and Rizal. The southwest monsoon rains has devastated farm lands and houses in these areas.

 

The total damage to property was estimated at P616,376,611.50, including P596,815,230 in infrastructure and P19,561,381.50 in agriculture, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council said. At least 2,969 houses were destroyed while 5,537 were damaged.

 

Caritas Switzerland has been working for several years now in a number of communities affected by the strong monsoon rains. These communities had previously been affected by the twin tropical storms Ketsana and Parma in 2009. As a response to these disasters, Caritas Switzerland has supported a number of emergency relief and rehabilitation projects.

After the devastation caused by the recent monsoon rains, Caritas Switzerland and its partners are once again providing food aid and agricultural inputs to these affected areas, namely Muntinlupa, Bayamabang in Pangasinan, Victoria and Siniloan in Laguna, and Jala-jala in Rizal..

 

CDRC and its Regional Centers (ABI, CREST and STPRC) are currently distributing basic food items, seeds for replanting, fishing materials, and backyard animals to help in the early recovery of these communities.