Posted on by May Castillo

Sec. Taguiwalo and Ms. Fernandez are joined by (from left to right) Ms. Leizel Mangoa, PFI Administrative Officer; Ms. Israelita Ferrer-Lequin, PFI Agency Head; Ms. Violeta Apolinario, PFI Chairman; DSWD Assistant Secretary Rodolfo Santos; Mr. Claudio Nadal, Jr, Chief Administrative Officer of the National Resource Operations Office; and, Ms. Mappet Balawan of DSWD-Disaster Response and Management Bureau.
Sec. Taguiwalo and Ms. Fernandez are joined by (from left to right) Ms. Leizel Mangoa, PFI Administrative Officer; Ms. Israelita Ferrer-Lequin, PFI Agency Head; Ms. Violeta Apolinario, PFI Chairman; DSWD Assistant Secretary Rodolfo Santos; Mr. Claudio Nadal, Jr, Chief Administrative Officer of the National Resource Operations Office; and, Ms. Mappet Balawan of DSWD-Disaster Response and Management Bureau.

The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and the PhilSeven Foundation Inc. (PFI) which is behind the 7-Eleven chain of 24-7 convenience stores today signed a memorandum of agreement (MoA) which is essentially a Partnership on Provision of Food to Volunteers Engaged in Disaster Response Activities. This is the first MoA the PFI has entered with a national government agency.

PFI has been a partner of the DSWD since the “Habagat” relief operations in 2011.  It has been providing meals (breakfast, lunch, and dinner) and snacks (AM, PM, and midnight) for volunteers of the DSWD who repack, load, and unload Family Food Packs (FFPs) of the DSWD at the National Resource Operations Center (NROC) in Pasay City.

From 2012 to 2015, the PFI has provided meals worth over P2.5 million, and more than P450,000 was utilized to serve 4,067 volunteers during the Typhoon Lando  Disaster Operations in November 2015 alone.

Recently,  PFI expressed its intention and commitment to institutionalize the  partnership with DSWD by signing a MOA and allotting an annual standby budget for support in the relief operations, not only in the NROC, but also in other areas of operations of the DSWD nationwide.

For Typhoon Lawin, PFI provided meals to DSWD-NROC volunteers from October 21 to 29. The foundation gave P247,500 worth of rice meals and P248.969 worth of assorted bread for snacks, amounting to a total of P496, 469.

On behalf of the DSWD, Sec. Judy M. Taguiwalo expressed gratitude to the PFI and 7-Eleven, saying that the foundation’s support was laudable and most helpful to the DSWD and its humanitarian efforts.

“This is the essence of service and compassion – to help those who are also working to help others. I am pleased to sign this MOA on behalf of the DSWD, and we look forward to working hand-in-hand with the PFI to make our disaster efforts more efficient by making sure that our volunteers always eat on time even as they work around the clock during times of disasters,” she said.

“We are always glad to work with credible institutions who share our objectives to provide immediate and compassion service to the Filipino people. We thank the FPI for giving us its trust and supporting our efforts our people the best way possible through swift and immediate response,” she said.

On the part of the PFI, its Vice Chairman Liwayway T. Fernandez said that the PFI and 7-Eleven Philippines believe in the importance of ensuring immediate response during calamities.

“At the same time, we also give importance to the people who are behind the efforts to respond immediately to the needs of people affected by calamities. We believe in the importance of ‘caring for the caregiver, and we would like to formally acknowledge this partnership we have with the DSWD in its holistic approach towards disaster management,” she said.

“We are greatly honored to have partnered with the DSWD and to be able to reach out to victims of disasters through this unique partnership.”#