CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY – The Department of Social Welfare and Development-10 (DSWD-10) has warned anew that those caught selling or buying food packs given to individuals affected by disasters are punishable by law.
DSWD-10 issued the warning even as it continues to receive reports of illicit trading of relief goods in an evacuation center in Iligan City, where hundreds of displaced families from Marawi City are staying.
The selling and buying for consumption or resale of the DSWD’s food packages and other relief supplies that are intended for distribution to disaster victims is prohibited under Republic Act 10121 or the Phil. Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act of 2010.
Per latest data from the DSWD-10, the region has 53,120 displaced families, 51,278 of whom are home-based. Of the total number of IDPs, 1,842 families are living in 33 evacuation centers.
More than half a million residents left their homes in Marawi following the war government troops waged against the combined extremist forces of the Maute Group, Abu Sayyaf and Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters. The fighting lasted for almost six months leaving in its wake destroyed properties and hundreds of lives lost.
DSWD-10 information officer Jamila Taha said they first received reports of looting of food packs during the distribution of goods at the public covered court in Barangay Tubod, Iligan, on Dec. 9.
Men were seen loading packed items in waiting vehicles, Taha said. According to the information received by the agency, these relief goods were then sold to unsuspecting consumers elsewhere.
Last month, she said, authorities seized about 1,617 fake Dafacs from IDPs during the food pack distribution. Some IDPs were said to be in possession of more than one card.
Sommayah Manaleseg, campaign officer of Tindeg Ranao, an organization of Maranao evacuees from Marawi, said many of the IDPs have admitted to selling donated food packs.
“They are not denying it. And we cannot blame them. It’s a manifestation of the desperation of the evacuees,” she said in a phone interview Thursday.
Manaleseg said the IDPs have no choice but to sell some of the food items and use the money they earned for their other needs.
“Even the Department of Health said that the IDPs’ diet of NFA rice and canned goods is unhealthy. They knew that the DSWD has not allowed it (selling and buying of food items), but they also need cash for their other needs,” Manaleseg added.
What the IPDs need, she said, is for the DSWD to have a sustainable cash assistance program so they won’t be forced to sell their donated food packs. (Jigger J. Jerusalem/PNA)
