Binay slams DSWD neglect, wastage of food aid

Opposition leader Vice President Jejomar Binay on Saturday hit the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) for its continued neglect in handling food that are meant for victims of super-typhoon Yolanda and other calamities.

This, after DSWD Secretary Dinky Soliman admitted that some 300 sacks of rice were just buried in Leyte after they spoiled.

“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, referring to the buried grains.

“What’s more disappointing is that this was not the only time food for calamity victims had gone to waste,” the United Nationalist Alliance (UNA) standard-bearer said.

Binay cited the 2013 annual audit report of the Commission on Audit (COA) on the DSWD, saying that family food packs worth 2.8 million for 7,527 families affected by supertyphoon 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 141 million.

Soliman "came clean" about the case of the spoiled rice on Thursday.

"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," Binay underscored.

He likewise accused the Aquino Cabinet member of "playing politics, placing premium on advancing the candidacy of the LP (Liberal Party) candidate over the more urgent needs of the poor".

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 report, COA found out that the 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 1.151 billion local and foreign cash donations the DSWD received from November 2013 to December 2014, 33 percent or 382.072 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.