TAGUM, Davao del Norte: A total of 3,500 families affected by the recent flooding and landslide incidents in Davao del Norte and Davao de Oro received cash assistance from the United States government through the US Agency for International Development (USAid).

The number included about 2,000 residents from the municipalities of Carmen, Dujali and New Corella in Davao del Norte, and 1,500 are from Davao de Oro, particularly those families affected by the landslide in Barangay Masara, Maco.

USAid officials led by USAid's Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance Ben Hemingway and their program implementers, Catholic Relief Services and Action Against Hunger, visited key stakeholders and partner communities in the two provinces for recovery efforts and explored potential response on Monday, March 11.

The delegation also visited the intervention areas of the Davao Flooding Emergency Response implemented by the CRS Philippines and Action Against Hunger (AAH) in these provinces.

Hemingway said the US government has provided $1.25 million or P70 million in humanitarian aid to respond to the needs of communities affected by severe flooding and landslides in Mindanao.

The funding support provides immediate assistance such as food, water, sanitation and essential hygiene items to support disaster-affected communities in Mindanao.

"Essentially, the additional funding that we provided to our humanitarian partners was to ensure that affected families had access to food, water, sanitation facilities and emergency shelters," Hemingway said in a press conference.

He said the program will help the families recover, return to their homes and reestablish their lives and livelihoods.

CRS Philippines, represented by country representative Jonas Tetangco, also said that CRS and AAH received funding from USAid of around P70 million to support the affected families in the two provinces.

"We are supporting around 2,000 families in Davao del Norte who will be receiving P10,000 cash assistance which they can use to buy whatever needs they have, it could be food and sanitation," Tetangco said.