The Department of Environment and Natural Resources Region 6 (DENR 6), including its extended bureaus and field offices, has raised fund and donated over Php 4 M worth of relief goods and assistance to Western Visayas countrymen affected by COVID-19 pandemic.

With a total of Php 4,088,921.95 raised donation, DENR 6 distributed food packs, groceries, sanitation products, cash assistance, and PPEs such as face shields and face masks to various beneficiaries from different sectors greatly affected by the lockdown.

Beneficiaries include low-income households, such as laborers, farmers, forest rangers, bantay-dagat workers, persons with disabilities (PWDs), and senior citizens; LGU, medical, and military frontliners; members of people’s organizations; and DENR Region 6 skeletal workers, though economically challenged, continue to render necessary services despite the health risks they face during work.

DENR 6 regional office and DENR Multi-purpose Cooperative (DEMCO) donated Php 150,900; Environmental Management Bureau, Php 352,658; Mines and Geosciences Bureau, Php 2,841,636.75; PENRO Aklan and CENRO Boracay, Php 113,035; PENRO Antique, CENRO Belison and Culasi, Php 278,642.20; PENRO Capiz and CENRO Mambusao, Php 43,700; PENRO Iloilo, CENRO Guimbal, Barotac Nuevo and Sara, Php 79,000; PENRO Guimaras, Php 39,500; PENRO Negros Occidental, CENRO Bago City, Cadiz City and Kabankalan City, Php 189,850.

The medical, checkpoint and LGUs’ frontliners from different hospitals, towns and cities in the region were main recipients of the PPEs and sanitation products, with also food packs..

The regional office’s skeleton workforces with blue-collar jobs and contractual workers who render their time and services during the Enhanced Community Quarantine were also prioritized for the relief assistance. Facemasks were also provided to DENR personnel for safety and preventive measures.

Said donation effort is in support of the Republic Act no. 11469 or the “Bayanihan to Heal as One Act” declaring a Public Health Emergency throughout the country due to the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.

“I would like to extend my utmost gratitude to the people behind these series of bayanihan–the DENR personnel. These relief operations had helped a lot of families here in Western Visayas in this time of pandemic. In these trying times, a small act of generosity could go a long way to ease the affliction caused by the pandemic. With self-discipline to follow the safety measures and protocols to prevent the spreading of COVID-19, we could help the whole nation contain the virus. Stay safe everyone,” said Regional Executive Director Francisco E. Milla, Jr.#