WFP Regional Bureau for Asia and the Pacific - 2016 SPRs RBB 2016 SPRs by project type | Page 867

Standard Project Report 2016
(NROC) and the recently opened Visayas Disaster Response Centre (VDRC), and eventually the transfer of the
mechanized packing system (MPS) in VDRC to a new DRC that has yet to be determined.
In the context of delays in government land acquisition for the Visayas DRC site, WFP leased a 5,000 square meter
warehouse in Cebu, and established a temporary DRC in this location, the second of its kind in the Philippines.
MPS equipment of equal specification to that installed in the NROC facility was installed and officially launched in
April 2016. The temporary facility, which is leased for two years, accommodates decentralized emergency response
operations of DSWD and OCD in the Visayas region, and provides for production of an additional capacity of a
maximum 50,000 family packs per day, which is enough to feed 250,000 people for three days.
Based on the lessons learned from the initial setup in the NROC in Manila, some minor changes, such as bringing
the various raw-materials closer to the areas where needed, extending the loading area for the loading hopper for
the bagging machines, lowering the height of the conveyor belts and extending the distance from bagging machines
to case erectors, to name a few, were incorporated to ease the work of the workforce by bringing all materials closer
to the actual workstations.
The VDRC site in Cebu is fully functional since April 2016 and includes large pre-positioning of operational support
equipment adequate to support immediate deployment and set-up of field logistics hubs, a pallet racking system to
optimize the storage capacity, and office and training space suitable to conduct practical and theoretical training
sessions.
The use of environment-friendly cardboard boxes and biodegradable plastic bags for the rice component of the
family food packs, first started at NROC has been continued at the VDRC, thus enabling easy handling of the
finished product. WFP, together with the contractor for the equipment, has also managed various enhanced
technical trainings for DSWD staff attached to the VDRC to enable them to operate the MPS safely and efficiently.
The roll-out of the disaster response training curriculum on emergency logistics was continued throughout the
reporting year. Government staff from DSWD, OCD, local government units (LGUs) and other humanitarian
organizations. The training modules covered family pack production and mobilization; equipment deployment;
technical logistics; disaster response supply chain management.
The findings of the logistics training needs assessment carried out late 2015 were used to adjust the training
strategy – including adjusting all case studies to the loc