SITUATION OVERVIEW_______________________________________________________________________

Typhoon Bopha made landfall early morning on 4 December 2012 in the southern Philippine islands of Mindanao, an area usually bypassed by storms. Bopha thus affected a relatively unprepared population. Typhoon Bopha, locally named Pablo, is the sixteenth and most destructive storm to hit the Philippines this year. As of 11 December, over 5.4 million people have been affected. Nearly 133,000 houses have been either totally or partially damaged. 778,000 persons are reportedly living in evacuation centres or with relatives/friends. The death toll has risen to 740 and 890 are still unaccounted for. As part of a coordinated UN response and based on inter-agency joint assessment, needs, gaps and the recommendation of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), WFP launched a coordinated food assistance programme together with DSWD. WFP has already initiated general food distribution and nutrition intervention for children 6-36 months, while emergency school feeding and Food/Cash-for-Work would commence in coming weeks. Additionally, WFP has been providing logistics support to the humanitarian community through the Logistics Cluster for effective and timely delivery of humanitarian assistance in the affected areas. GOVERNMENT RESPONSE_____________________________________________________________________

Humanitarian clusters continue to assemble in coordination meetings, led by pertinent government departments. Today 11 December, the Food cluster met at the DSWD Region XI headquarters. Food cluster members shared information on geographic scope of their ongoing assistance, and in the process revealed gaps and constraints in outreach of humanitarian support (see map in page four). Mechanisms were proposed to avoid duplication in relief efforts. Providing assistance to indigenous peoples was identified as a priority. The Nutrition cluster had their first meeting in the Regional Office of the Department of Health. Among other items, the cluster members discussed the effective mechanism of distribution of the ready-to-use supplementary food Plumpy’Doz in the highly-affected provinces of Davao Oriental and Compostela Valley. WFP HIGHLIGHTS____________________________________________________________________________ DSWD and WFP have agreed to increase the family pack ration size of rice to 10 kg from 5 kg beginning tomorrow 11 December. The proportion of government relief items included in the DSWD/WFP family pack (including WFP high-energy biscuits (HEBs), sardines, canned beef, instant noodles, and coffee) would also be increased proportionately. WFP/DSWD family pack will last for one week, after which food assistance will again be extended to the same household. The ready-to-use supplementary food Plumpy’Doz will be given to families with children aged 6-36 months to complement the family pack. The WFP team that visited the affected province of Davao Oriental reported that fuel prices in the area are two to three times higher than official prices. WFP met with all local government officials (mayors) in the province of Compostela Valley to further strengthen coordination and clarify the strategy for relief and recovery through general food distribution and nutrition support. WFP also visited the provincial health office to establish the distribution plan for Plumpy’Doz. Today, 11 December, WFP delivered 50 mt rice to the provincial government of Compostela Valley, bringing the total cumulative received by the province to 200 mt which would benefit 40,000 families for one round of

Philippines: Emergency Response to Typhoon Bopha (locally named Pablo) Situation Report # 8

11 December 2012

ration. WFP also delivered 50 mt of rice to the municipality of Mati in Davao Oriental. HEBs have begun to be included in the WFP/DSWD family packs for distribution tomorrow 12 December. WFP also deployed 34 trucks for use of the national and regional government in the delivery of relief items, including essential plastic sheeting donated by USAID/Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA). 2,000 rolls of plastic sheets arrived today from Dubai via a C130 plane. Emergency shelter is one of the identified prioritized needs in Davao Oriental and Compostela Valley. Today WFP provided essential orientation on warehouse management to 17 DSWD staff members, to be deployed to the two humanitarian hubs in Nabunturan and Trento. The hub in Trento will begin to be erected tomorrow 12 December. Tomorrow WFP’s Ambassador Against Hunger KC Concepcion and WFP Representative and Country Director Stephen Anderson will visit affected persons in two municipalities of Compostela Valley and participate in the distribution of DSWD/WFP family packs in evacuation centres. Ms. Concepcion is also scheduled to meet with Regional and Provincial DSWD staff members and relief operations volunteers. Ms. Concepcion’s visit is anticipated to renew hopes of the affected persons. RESOURCE UPDATE__________________________________________________________________________ In order to provide complementary support to the government, WFP immediately needs a total of US$ 21.6 million to save lives and to kick-start the recovery process through the below outlined activities: Food and Cash distributions: The total amount required under this operation is US$19.6 million (including associated costs) for 17,783mt of assorted food commodities and in form of cash (US$2million) for areas where markets are functioning. The assorted food commodities include HEB (267mt), Veg oil (106mt), beans (1,399mt) and rice (16,011 mt). Logistics: A total of US$ 802,500 is needed by WFP under the logistics cluster to address the request from the Government of the Philippines in regard to logistics support, as well as to prepare for perceived needs of the wider humanitarian community, immediate logistical augmentation, coordination and support is required. As the humanitarian community scales up its relief response, life-saving and life-sustaining relief items will be needed. In order to ensure that these supplies reach the most vulnerable people affected by the crisis in a timely and efficient manner additional logistics services are required. Nutrition: A total of US$1.2m is immediately required for Ready to Use Supplementary Food (RUSF) for Treatment and Prevention targeting some 150,000 children between 6-59 months of age.

PHOTOS___________________________________________________________________________________

Davao Oriental---“Felled coconut trees looked like pick-up sticks!” exclaimed an incredulous DSWD staff member. Photo credit: WFP Philippines/Fahima Abdulaziz.

Volunteers assist in bagging DSWD/WFP family packs containing 10 kg rice among other food items. WFP rice is sourced from pre-positioned disaster contingency stock supported by AusAID. Photo credit: WFP Philippines/Sharon Lumpias.

Left: In New Bataan, Compostela Valley, a man searches for a familiar name in the list of Typhoon Bopha survivor list. Right: Volunteers add high-energy biscuits to complete the DSWD/WFP family pack for affected persons. Photo credit: WFP Philippines/Masanobu Horie.