VIDEO | Sacks and sacks of relief goods rotting at DSWD Tacloban warehouse

By: Ina Zara, TV5

March 27, 2014 10:28 AM

An image grabbed from TV5 video shows spoiled DSWD family goods around the decomposed remains of a chicken at the agency's warehouse in Tacloban City

InterAksyon.com

The online news portal of TV5

TACLOBAN CITY, Philippines - Substantial amounts of relief goods supposedly intended for survivors of super typhoon Yolanda have been rotting inside a warehouse of the Department of Social Welfare and Development in Tacloban City, video taken by TV5 confirms.

The warehouse is the center of relief operations for typhoon survivors in Leyte province.

A crew from TV5 documented scenes inside the warehouse. To one side were sacks upon sacks of rotting family packs with DSWD markings. Some were piled around the decomposing remains of a chicken. Several sacks of spoiled rice bore World Food Program and European Union markings.

What TV5 documented tends to confirm earlier allegations made by angry Yolanda survivors. TV5 also saw what InterAksyon.com earlier reported on - rotten goods distributed to residents of a village in Palo, Leyte last week.

Before this, the residents of Barangay Gacao said they had received relief goods from the DSWD only twice since Yolanda struck last November 8.

The goods that arrived last week, said Marissa Amazon, reeked of rot and were infested with worms.

TV5 also documented soggy biscuits and noodles that had expired a month ago.

“Respetuhin naman kami. Kung magbibigay sila, hindi naman ganu’n na bulok na na (They should respect us. If they give to us, it shouldn’t be spoiled) relief goods,” said barangay captain Panchito Cortez.

He also confirmed that the goods had come from the Municipal Social Welfare and Development Office.

However, when sought for an explanation, MSWDO head Rosalina Balderas declined, saying: “I think I need not explain because the news has been spread all throughout, kahit mag-explain pa ako, wala nang effect ‘yun sa mga tao (even if I explain, it won’t have any effect on people).”

Aside from the rotten goods delivered to Barangay Gacao, InterAksyon.com has also documented the burial of spoiled goods at the Palo dumpsite in barangay San Jose as well as in the town of Palompon.

Despite the reported problems in the delivery of assistance to Yolanda survivors, Helen Clark, director of the United Nations Development Program, said she was “pretty confident” that donations were reaching the intended beneficiaries.

Clark visited Tacloban Wednesday.

The UNDP has earmarked P2 billion for a three-year recovery program for Tacloban.

InterAksyon.com is the online news portal of TV5.

Related Stories:

This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at http://ift.tt/jcXqJW.

Source: Google Alert - tacloban