I'm sure Ella is not the only side of the coin, so when she had her 15 minutes of fame, I did not bother to believe until I was able to get the DSWD's side of it. And I think the DSWD's side of it makes sense. I reiterate the Secretary's statement:
"... An empty warehouse is not proof that the goods were used properly just as a full warehouse is not evidence that the goods are being hoarded. There are many aspects of disaster response."
I can go "tsk, tsk, tsk" at all the inefficiency, or wastage, or whatever that could and would occur in major operations such as this. I would even rant about it to my friends. But I have to be well informed before I pass on sensationalized, unverified news.
Please find below the responses of the DSWD on the allegations regarding the relief goods in the the DSWD warehouses. Will you pass this around too?
DSWD Statement follows:
May we share with you the attached official DSWD response to these allegations in the blog. We hope this could be circulated too. Likewise, invite them to visit the National Relief Operations Center (NROC) and see for themselves its operations, afterwhich provide constructive recommendations/suggestions to enhance our work there.
Thank you.
Very truly yours,
Alicia R. Bala
Undersecretary
Statement:
The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) manages the
National Relief Operations Center (NROC) which is the facility for
processing and storage of relief goods that are purchased by the
Department or donated to us by generous individuals both here and
abroad. The relief goods are released to our Regional Offices or
directly to evacuation centers or to the local government units as
they are needed and requested by these entities. They are delivered in
trucks, many of which were lent to us by private companies or by
military vehicles. Some of the goods are shipped by air from nearby
Villamor Airbase.
When typhoons Ondoy and Pepeng hit the country, we received and are
continuing to receive donations. Our warehouses are indeed full,
inspite of the fact that we have distributed 500,000 food packs and
200,000 clothing packs as well as thousands of sacks of rice,
blankets, beddings, and items of personal hygiene in the past almost 4
weeks. That is the reason why when asked if we still have enough
goods, my constant reply is yes, so far we do, thanks to the many
kind-hearted individuals and organizations as well as countries who
responded and are still responding to the plight of the typhoon
victims.
There are no rotting relief goods in our warehouses as we do not keep
perishables there and the relief goods that are there, save for the
donated old clothes are quite new since they have been either recently
purchased by us or have been just donated.
Our goods are repacked by volunteers who are there because they want
to help. But they are volunteers and report when they have time to
help us. Sometimes there are two hundred of them and sometimes there
are only a dozen. However many or few they are, we appreciate their
presence and their assistance. Weekdays are usually quiet but on
Saturdays and Sundays, the students, along with others who work Monday
to Friday, including our own employees, are there.
Our staff at the warehouse work round the clock even now, making sure
that the requests for relief goods are met in a timely manner. They
work hard, they work quietly and they work humbly and I feel bad that
they have been subjected to public vilification that they do not
deserve.
I do not recall having talked to an Editor of Philippine News. I do
remember my secretary telling me that someone was on the phone asking
why there were no volunteers working at the warehouse. My reply was we
do not own the time of the volunteers.
I wish that I could have prevented the deaths from typhoons but in
fact, they have nothing to do with the relief goods that we are in
charge of. Most of the deaths were from drowning or injuries sustained
during the typhoon. Some died of illnesses. We are not in charge of
rescue nor are we in charge of health and to the best of my knowledge,
none of the deaths was due to absence of or delay in the delivery of
relief goods.
We would like to assure all of you that the relief goods will reach
the intended beneficiaries as they become necessary and will be used
only to assist them. However, the relief goods don’t all go out at the
same time and an empty warehouse is not proof that the goods were used
properly just as a full warehouse is not evidence that the goods are
being hoarded. If you visit our website www.dswd.gov.ph you will find
updates on our activities related to typhoons Ondoy and Pepeng. It
includes an updated list of donations received and goods released from
the DSWD warehouse.
There are many aspects of disaster response. They include recovery and
rehabilitation and in both instances, goods and other resources are
still needed. In the initial reaction to a calamity, people will want
to help and as we saw recently, they came in droves, offering their
time, their talent and their resources. We want them to know how much
we appreciate them for what they have done and what they are still
doing. But further down the road, when the initial flush of generosity
gives way to donor fatigue, there will remain only a few hardy NGOs
and volunteers and the workers of the DSWD and other government
agencies to continue the job of helping the disaster victims back on
their feet. Judicious use of resources at the outset is imperative
lest we face the situation of even greater want after a period of
relative plenty. We at the DSWD wish to assure you that your trust in
us is not misplaced. Thank you.
Letter of Dr. Esperanza Cabral to the Editor in Chief, Philippine Daily Inquirer
October 25, 2009
MS.LETICIA MAGSANOC
Editorin Chief
Philippine Daily Inquirer
Makati City
Dear Ms. Magsanoc:
Please allow me to comment on the PDI editorial of October 25,2009.
Very truly yours,
ESPERANZA I. CABRAL, M.D.
Secretary
Department of Social Welfare and Development
National Relief Operations Center (NROC) which is the facility for
processing and storage of relief goods that are purchased by the
Department or donated to us by generous individuals both here and
abroad. The relief goods are released to our Regional Offices or
directly to evacuation centers or to the local government units as
they are needed and requested by these entities. They are delivered in
trucks, many of which were lent to us by private companies or by
military vehicles. Some of the goods are shipped by air from nearby
Villamor Airbase.
When typhoons Ondoy and Pepeng hit the country, we received and are
continuing to receive donations. Our warehouses are indeed full,
inspite of the fact that we have distributed 500,000 food packs and
200,000 clothing packs as well as thousands of sacks of rice,
blankets, beddings, and items of personal hygiene in the past almost 4
weeks. That is the reason why when asked if we still have enough
goods, my constant reply is yes, so far we do, thanks to the many
kind-hearted individuals and organizations as well as countries who
responded and are still responding to the plight of the typhoon
victims.
There are no rotting relief goods in our warehouses as we do not keep
perishables there and the relief goods that are there, save for the
donated old clothes are quite new since they have been either recently
purchased by us or have been just donated.
Our goods are repacked by volunteers who are there because they want
to help. But they are volunteers and report when they have time to
help us. Sometimes there are two hundred of them and sometimes there
are only a dozen. However many or few they are, we appreciate their
presence and their assistance. Weekdays are usually quiet but on
Saturdays and Sundays, the students, along with others who work Monday
to Friday, including our own employees, are there.
Our staff at the warehouse work round the clock even now, making sure
that the requests for relief goods are met in a timely manner. They
work hard, they work quietly and they work humbly and I feel bad that
they have been subjected to public vilification that they do not
deserve.
I do not recall having talked to an Editor of Philippine News. I do
remember my secretary telling me that someone was on the phone asking
why there were no volunteers working at the warehouse. My reply was we
do not own the time of the volunteers.
I wish that I could have prevented the deaths from typhoons but in
fact, they have nothing to do with the relief goods that we are in
charge of. Most of the deaths were from drowning or injuries sustained
during the typhoon. Some died of illnesses. We are not in charge of
rescue nor are we in charge of health and to the best of my knowledge,
none of the deaths was due to absence of or delay in the delivery of
relief goods.
We would like to assure all of you that the relief goods will reach
the intended beneficiaries as they become necessary and will be used
only to assist them. However, the relief goods don’t all go out at the
same time and an empty warehouse is not proof that the goods were used
properly just as a full warehouse is not evidence that the goods are
being hoarded. If you visit our website www.dswd.gov.ph you will find
updates on our activities related to typhoons Ondoy and Pepeng. It
includes an updated list of donations received and goods released from
the DSWD warehouse.
There are many aspects of disaster response. They include recovery and
rehabilitation and in both instances, goods and other resources are
still needed. In the initial reaction to a calamity, people will want
to help and as we saw recently, they came in droves, offering their
time, their talent and their resources. We want them to know how much
we appreciate them for what they have done and what they are still
doing. But further down the road, when the initial flush of generosity
gives way to donor fatigue, there will remain only a few hardy NGOs
and volunteers and the workers of the DSWD and other government
agencies to continue the job of helping the disaster victims back on
their feet. Judicious use of resources at the outset is imperative
lest we face the situation of even greater want after a period of
relative plenty. We at the DSWD wish to assure you that your trust in
us is not misplaced. Thank you.
Letter of Dr. Esperanza Cabral to the Editor in Chief, Philippine Daily Inquirer
October 25, 2009
MS.LETICIA MAGSANOC
Editorin Chief
Philippine Daily Inquirer
Makati City
Dear Ms. Magsanoc:
Please allow me to comment on the PDI editorial of October 25,2009.
- You correctly quoted me as saying that “Our goods are repacked by volunteers who are there because they want to help. But they are volunteers and report when they have time to help us. Sometimes there are two hundred of them and sometimes there are only a dozen.” I was stating facts. In my official statement I never “pursued the line put forward by her secretary – blame it on a lack of volunteers.” I never said that we lacked volunteers nor that the lack of volunteers impeded our work. Actually our goods are sent to the Regional Offices, local government units, etc as requested, either as repacked goods or un-repacked items, i.e., sacks of rice, boxes of canned goods, pallets of jerry cans, etc. There has never been an instance when a request for repacked goods was turned down by the Central Warehouse because it was unavailable at the time of the request whatever the number of volunteers we had on the days previous. There is always a sufficient number of items, repacked or not, to respond to the requests we receive. This is just a warehouse we are talking about. All the staff does is to accept and process the goods sent there, store them until such time as a request for release is received, and then they do that. The warehouse functions quite well in relation to the entire disaster operations. The larger scheme of things is something you might want to discuss with us at length. We would so love to orient you fully on our disaster operations, in fact on the whole DSWD operations, whenever you have the time. Just tell us. After you know the DSWD, in particular its disaster operations, you can criticize us with full confidence if you wish, really knowing whereof you speak instead of just what you think we should be doing or how you think we should be doing it. Until them, neither you nor the public deserve to be harsh on the DSWD.
- Thank you for understanding that I mean well. Our Department is not perfect, but I can assure you that the overwhelming majority of us are competent at what we do and that we do our jobs with integrity. We do not deserve this demolition job that was started by some publicity hungry bimbo that is now being gleefully carried forward by all sorts of characters of dubious motivation and media outfits who have seen a chance to yet attack a government that they do not like.
- We do indeed have a “politico-proof” policy as far as disbursement of relief goods is concerned. It entails assessing the requests from politicians (as well as all others) and making sure that the relief goods are being requested for real disaster victims. It necessitates our social workers being the ones to do the distribution in the presence of the “politico.” A politico-proof policy does not mean that we turn down requests for assistance just because they came from a politician. It is a demonstration of our transparency that our record of disbursement lists down the names of the politicians as well as others who requested relief goods from the DSWD. We could have very well kept the information to ourselves and you will likely be none the wiser. We would not have incurred the ire of politicians who want to use relief goods for their own purposes as has actually happened.
Very truly yours,
ESPERANZA I. CABRAL, M.D.
Secretary
Department of Social Welfare and Development
