Give cash, Samar lawmaker asks ‘Yolanda’ aid donors

Western Samar Rep. Mel Senen Sarmiento: Donate cash. PHOTO FROM CONGRESS.GOV.PH.

MANILA, Philippines—It’s better to donate money rather than goods for survivors of Supertyphoon “Yolanda” to allow agencies to adjust to their needs, which are changing as relief efforts continue, according to Western Samar Rep. Mel Senen Sarmiento.

For those reluctant to hand over money to the government, especially in light of the pork barrel fund controversy, there is always FAiTH, or the Foreign Aid Transparency Hub website to monitor how the foreign donations are used, said Sarmiento.

The Commission on Audit (COA), as well as civil society organizations, are also there to keep close watch on how donations are spent, while the people themselves could be vigilant in monitoring how these are distributed, Sarmiento added.

Subject to audit

“We can’t avoid people having their own suspicions, but now, the government is promoting FAiTH, and there is COA there to monitor. All aid, once it gets to the local government units, are subject to COA audit,” Sarmiento said in an ambush interview.

“Some people would think that way, but we should also trust our people,” he added.

He also said the citizens themselves could keep a close eye on the donations and ensure that these are properly distributed.

Sarmiento’s district has been largely spared from Yolanda’s fury, but he has been involved in mobilizing lawmakers from the different regions to coordinate relief efforts.

According to him, it would be better to donate money for the victims of Yolanda so that those in charge of distributing the largesse, whether government agencies or private humanitarian organizations, would have more flexibility to procure exactly what the survivors need.

Flexibility

“Every day their needs change, so that would allow for flexibility,” he said.

For instance, he said, a fisherman in the recovery phase would need fishing nets or a new boat. Some places don’t need additional food relief, but need construction materials, he added.

He does not want a repeat of too many kinds of one item being donated, especially if these would no longer help. A similar experience happened when Typhoon “Sendong” swept through Mindanao, after people learned about the survivors’ need for blankets, he recalled.

“We ended up having 300,000 blankets for 40,000 people,” he said, adding that officials had had to look for a warehouse to stock the blankets.

‘Tsunami’ aid

He also noted that when a massive earthquake struck Japan in 2011 and destroyed the Fukushima nuclear power plant, the recovery was faster because most of the aid was in the form of funding rather than in kind. He said he had offered help to the Fukushima area, and he was advised to donate funds and course it through the Red Cross.

Sarmiento said the rationale behind donating funds and coursing it through government agencies or local governments is also to stimulate the domestic economy, especially in the calamity-ravaged areas.

Local governments could buy the items needed from the same area or region affected by the calamity, if possible, in order to boost businesses there, he explained. For instance, if the materials for the rebuilding are procured locally, that would spur economic activity in the area, compared to when foreign organizations send aid in the form of construction materials, he said.