‘Respect privacy of families’

REPORTERS can only interview evacuees upon their arrival in Cebu and are not allowed to talk to them in evacuation centers, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) said yesterday.

“We were lambasted by the media and we apologize for the misunderstanding. Please give us enough time to complete their documentation and processing,” said Nemia Antipala, Acting DSWD assistant director for operations.

Antipala said while they acknowledge the media’s role in connecting the families to their loved ones abroad or in other parts of the country, the privacy of the families should also be respected.

Interviews with the “internally displaced persons” (IDPs) can only be done upon their arrival at the Benito Ebuen Air Base or the headquarters of the Naval Forces Central in Lapu Lapu City, she said.

“We don’t want to intrude so much on their privacy,” Antipala said, referring to a photo of sleeping evacuees that was published in a newspaper.

Antipala said reporters should coordinate with designated “camp managers” to arrange interviews.

She said house rules were also set up for the IDPs so they won’t disrupt the activities and programs of their host-cities.

She said the IDPs aren’t allowed to leave camp unless it is important.

“If they transfer to their relatives then we are not responsible for them,” Antipala said.

Cebu City will host a city-wide Christmas celebration next month and the annual Sinulog grand parade in January 2014 which may entice beggars to crowd the city streets, Antipala said.

Antipala said they are also coordinating with their Eastern Visayas office to segregate the IDPs since there are volunteers and businessmen who hitch rides on C-130 planes and Navy vessels. Social welfare officer Grace Yana said that they are also developing a crisis intervention system to identify IDPs staying with relatives in Cebu. Those staying in evacuation centers will undergo documentation and counseling, she said.

“We are still teaching them how to re-integrate them to their families,” she said. Yana said IDPs are also given chores during their stay at the DSWD camps or evacuation centers. Chief of Reporters Doris C. Bongcac