Towns in Leyte, Samar throw away spoiled rice

LINES, like this of people waiting for their turn to receive relief items, have become a common sight in many areas hit by Supertyphoon “Yolanda” due to a largely ineffective government response to the immediate need for food and water. RICHARD A. REYES

TACLOBAN CITY – Two typhoon-ravaged towns, one in Leyte provice and another in Samar province, have received bags of spoiled rice from the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).

The mayors of the towns of Mayorga in Leyte and Maydolong in Samar said they had to dispose of a total of 80 bags of rice that were spoiled.

Mayor Alexander de Paz of Mayorga, 50 kilometers from Tacloban City, said he ordered the disposal of 30 bags of rice that came from the DSWD and were no longer fit for human consumption.

De Paz said the spoiled bags of rice were buried at the town’s dump, which is at the back of the public cemetery.

He said that on November 12, he received the rice from the DSWD Eastern Visayas office and distributed these to various villages the following day.

“But those who received the bags of rice returned these to us, claiming these were spoiled. I myself smelled the rice and it had a foul smell, so I ordered [some employees] to just bury them,” De Paz said.

Maydolong Mayor Henry Afable also confirmed in a separate phone interview that at least 50 bags of rice they received from the DSWD regional office in Bicol three weeks ago were also spoiled.

Some of the spoiled rice were used as feeds for hogs. Some were buried while the rest were kept inside the municipal warehouse, the mayor said.

Afable explained it would not be proper for the municipal government to distribute the spoiled rice for health concerns.

“Of course, we’re not putting the blame on the DSWD [and] that they are distributing spoiled rice. Perhaps these bags of rice were spoiled when these were transported,” he added.

The bags of rice were transported in trucks without covers and exposed to the elements, Afable said. The rice cargo could have been drenched when it rained recently and this could be the reason the donated items were spoiled, Afable said.

De Paz also denied allegations that he threw away 300 bags of rice intended for survivors of Supertyphoon “Yolanda.”

“That report of me directing the throwing of 300 bags of rice is a total exaggeration. That is not true at all,” said De Paz.

“What we threw were just 30 bags of rice, which were no longer fit for human consumption, as these were already spoiled,” De Paz said in a phone interview on Thursday.