VICE President Jejomar Binay slammed Social Welfare Secretary Corazon Soliman on Saturday for wasting almost 300 sacks of rice meant for typhoon victims which were not distributed because the rice were spoiled due to improper handling.
“Such act borders on criminal neglect. Thousands of Filipinos suffer from hunger every day, especially those affected by calamities, and yet we have a government that allowed food to rot,” Binay said.
Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. also warned Soliman from passing blame for the incident and said she cannot wash her hands of her responsibility for the wastage of food packs and sacks of rice discovered dumped in Dagami, Leyte.
“Soliman had admitted the rice and food packs were from the DSWD warehouses but clarified that they were intended to be distributed to those affected by typhoon Ruby and typhoon Glenda last year and not for survivors of super typhoon Yolanda.”
Binay said it is even “more disappointing is that this was not the only time food for calamity victims had gone to waste.”
Binay cited the 2013 annual audit report of the Commission on Audit on the DSWD, saying that family food packs worth P2.8 million for 7,527 families affected by super typhoon Yolanda were lost to spoilage “due to improper handling.”
In its 2014 report, CoA also said DSWD had been left with undistributed and expired or about-to-expire relief goods worth P141 million.
Soliman on Thursday confirmed the incident which was first reported in media.
“The admission by Secretary Soliman only highlights the reality that she has failed to provide the department the efficiency and compassion required in providing immediate aid to calamity victims,” he said.
“She has opted instead to play politics, placing premium on advancing the candidacy of the LP candidate over the more urgent needs of the poor,” Binay added.
Earlier, the DSWD in Eastern Visayas admitted burying 284 sacks of rice—meant for the Food for Work program for typhoon Ruby victims—in Barangay Macaalang, Dagami, Leyte.
In its audit report, CoA found out that DSWD bought and accepted relief goods without considering the absorptive capacity and condition of the warehousing facilities and personnel, available stocks, shelf life or expiry dates and the actual needs of the victims.
This led to the overstocking and spoilage of the goods.
In the same report, CoA mentioned that of the P1.151 billion local and foreign cash donations the DSWD received from November 2013 to December 2014, 33 percent or P382.072 million had been unused and kept in DSWD bank accounts.
“This is a gross disservice to both the calamity victims who needed all the assistance they could get, and the taxpayers and donors who contributed to the government’s calamity fund,” Binay said.
“In times of disaster, government should be able to provide immediate relief to the victims. There’s no room for dilly-dallying. Their survival largely depends on government’s ability to extend the needed assistance,” he added.
Marcos reiterated that “Soliman cannot simply toss the responsibility for this mess to her underlings. She is the one ultimately responsible.”
He cited that last year the Commission on Audit tagged DWSD for the spoilage of an estimated P2.8 million worth of relief goods intended for distribution to Yolanda survivors in 2013.
“The DSWD claimed it has learned its lesson and even acquired a mechanized repacking system and yet this unconscionable wastage of relief goods continues to happen,” Marcos deplored.
“According to Soliman, the goods buried in the area are no longer fit for human consumption. Initial reports estimates that around 500 sacks of spoiled rice were disposed in a 10-feet wide, 15-feet deep hole dug in Dagami.”
“Can you imagine how many typhoon victims the DSWD could have helped with such amount of relief goods? Surely, those responsible for this are unfit as public servants. Someone should be held accountable,” Marcos concluded.
