Hoarding of relief goods probed
Residents carry relief goods on top of destroyed homes after strong waves caused by Typhoon Haiyan slammed into Tacloban city, Leyte province central Philippines on Sunday, Nov. 10, 2013. AP FILE PHOTO
TACLOBAN CITY—The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) in Eastern Visayas is investigating reports that some local government officials are hoarding relief goods for victims of Supertyphoon “Yolanda” for reasons that the DILG has not made known yet.
Accused of hoarding relief goods were several mayors and officials of villages in different parts of Eastern Visayas, mostly in Leyte, according to Pedro Noval, DILG director in Eastern Visayas.
“We received reports of hoarding, involving several public officials, and we are now conducting our investigation on this issue,” Noval said.
Many villagers have aired complaints against officials hoarding relief goods but have filed no formal complaint, according to Noval.
The regional DILG director refused to identify the officials who would be covered by the investigation.
According to Noval, Interior Secretary Manuel Roxas II is aware of the hoarding. He has directed the regional office of the department to conduct the investigation.
He said food packs that are given to towns, cities or villages should be distributed immediately to residents of these areas who survived Yolanda, not the day after the goods had been received.
“We cannot let our people go hungry,” Noval said.
Noval said those found guilty of hoarding relief goods would be charged in court. He said the DILG investigation would be fair and not selective.
Roxas, a leader of the ruling Liberal Party, had been accused of playing politics in the early stages of relief work for victims of Yolanda in Tacloban, a city ruled by a mayor belonging to a rival political party of the LP.
Alfred Romualdez, of the Nacionalista Party, had beaten the LP candidate for mayor in Tacloban, Bem Noel, a former party-list representative.
Yvonne Abonales, who plays a key role in relief good distribution by the Department of Social Welfare and Development in Eastern Visayas, said that as far as her office is concerned, all food packs intended for typhoon victims have been accounted for and distributed to the beneficiaries.
Since the DSWD started distributing relief goods on Nov. 9, at least two million food packs had been distributed to more than 273,000 families in areas in Biliran, Samar, Eastern Samar and Leyte, including Tacloban City.
These areas were the hardest hit by Yolanda.
According to Abonales, the DSWD workers in areas hit by the storm have not received any report of hoarding of goods, but “there are instances when we could not distribute relief items for the day.”
Abonales said DSWD workers could not immediately distribute relief goods to far-flung areas.
