***
A blogger named Ella wrote about her experience volunteering for the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), and discovering that a lot of relief good are being kept in a warehouse and not actually being given to typhoon victims.You know what really got to me are the toys. WTF are they going to do with the toys they're keeping in the warehouse?? This makes me so mad.I don't understand their being selective of what goes out to the victims. They will withhold imported sleepsacks and release banigs only.Take a look at the care package packed by the mother packers of Moms For Moms. This is a sample package that went out to babies in Laguna.
If Ella's allegations are all true, we're hoping someone will pressure DSWD to release the goods and explain themselves.
Aanhin pa ang damo kung patay na ang kabayo? (A special report from a volunteer)Oct 21st, 2009 by ella
Dear friends,
I’m asking your help to spread the word. Tulungan po ninyo akong ikalat ito. Beyond this, we should also demand action. I disabled a plugin so you can copy the photos of relief goods rotting in DSWD warehouses. You can link this post to your blogs, facebook, websites etc. You can also email the photos. Philippine News (US based Philippine newspaper) will use this as its front page story this week. Every Filipino has the right to know where the tons of donations from the UN and other counties go. Kahit po nakakahiya sa mga nag-donate. Kung sa ganitong paraan, matutulungan natin ang mga nasalanta, then by all means, let’s do it. For those who have the time, please try to volunteer sa DSWD warehouses. Getting in was not easy. A friend had to put in a word for us. Let’s see kung madali nang makapasok sa DSWD warehouse ang mga volunteers.
Please read on and good luck to us.
Ella
*********
(This post was last edited Oct 22, 12:30 pm) Kahapon, tinanong ng Philippine News si DSWD Secretary Esperanza Cabral:
Editor of Philippine News: Why are the relief goods in DSWD warehouses not moving?
DSWD Secretary Esperanza Cabral: Wala kasing volunteers.
This short interview was done over the phone. Philippine News wanted to hear her side pero ayaw niyang makipag-usap sa press. After four tries, pinasabi na lang niya ang maikling sagot na ito sa secretary niya - “Walang volunteers”. I don’t want to accuse her of corruption but at the very least she is showing signs of being totally incompetent. We are in a state of calamity where every second counts. May namamatay araw-araw dahil sa sakit. In my opinion, these deaths could have been prevented if Secretary Cabral had tried a little harder to do her job. DON'T FORGET TO CLICK HERE
Deaths from Philippine storms nears 1,000
“Tropical Storm Ketsana left 420 dead and 37 missing when it flooded 80 percent of Manila on September 26, a disaster the government said affected 4.35 million people.Some areas are still flooded three weeks later and 189,000 people remain in evacuation centres,Typhoon Parma hit the northern Philippines on October 3 and lingered as a tropical storm for a week, triggering landslides that killed 438 people and leaving 51 missing mostly in mountain communities.The government agency said Parma affected 4.16 million people, including more than 32,000 who remain at evacuation centres.”
• • •During the first week after the storm, lumabas ang “bayanihan spirit” ng mga Pinoy. “Makatulong lang kahi’t konti,” katwiran nila.Kung walang volunteers, ano ‘to, komiks?
From Stella Arnaldo’s blog:“At the offices of many civic groups and private organizations, hundreds of people showed up to volunteer in packing relief goods.At the Tulong Bayan center at the Expo Centro in Cubao, Most of the volunteers were adolescents as young as 10 years old, along with their kuya or ate in high school and college.They came in huge numbers, many of them barkadas, classmates or siblings, dressed just in their tees and shorts, wearing their Havaianas. All were just enthusiastic to do their share!
Even grade school kids pitched in to help! Youth volunteers repack detergents for distribution. Making beds from carton boxes. SEE PHOTOS HERE
GMA asked world for donations.Our government begged the world for more donations. Sumagot ang buong mundo sa ating panawagan. In less than three weeks, dumaong ang mga barko, ibinaba mula sa mga cargo planes, i-diniliver ng mga trak at container vans ang sandamakmak na relief goods. Cash donations were in the millions of dollars.But these donations must be coursed through DSWD. Nagpalabas ng directive ang pangulo. Individuals, private companies and other nations were ENCOURAGED to send their donations to DSWD. I blogged about it here and the video of her announcement here.
This PGMA directive sounded suspicious to me then. Now I know why. Here’s the story.
A group of eight people, your ate Ella included, went to one of DSWD warehouses to help in repacking relief goods. We know they need volunteers pero hindi namin akalaing WALANG TAO TALAGA SA LOOB NG WAREHOUSE! As in sa isang humongous warehouse (1000++ sq.m) NA PUNONG-PUNO NG RELIEF GOODS HANGGANG BUBONG, ISANG DSWD employee lang at ISANG SECURITY GUARD ang tao!! Kailangang magpa-register at i-schedule ang volunteering UNICEF Registration (as a volunteer) The warehouse can only take as much as 50 volunteers at a time or per shift. Here you will find that there is a 4-hour shift, and an option for a 6-hour shift for the volunteers to indicate their availability. What “volunteers”? Nasaan? Aside from the 8 of us? Nope, there was nobody there. Bakit kailangan ang scheduling? Feeling hindi ba magkamayaw at nagu-unahan ang mga volunteers? I know somebody who wanted to volunteer many times. She was always bumped off, laging nirere-schedule kasi “there were too many volunteers” daw. At tuwing Sunday lang daw puwede. What the hell is going on here?Nakatambak ang donations ng UNICEF sa warehouse, local and international. Mga banig na dapat ay nahihigaan ng mga nasalanta. Mga imported camp beds na hindi na yata masisilayan ng mga biktima. Mga kumot na hindi naman nakabalot sa katawan nila. At mga pagkaing hindi sumasayad sa sikmura nila.The relief goods are not going anywhereWe arrived at about 8 am and left by midafternoon and yes, you guessed it right. Kami pa rin ang tao bukod sa isang DSWD employee sa loob ng warehouse maghapon. Walang ibang dumating.The relief goods are not moving. By the way things look, they are not going anywhere. Hindi maglalakad mag-isa ang mga donations na ito papunta sa mga evacuation centers.
LET THE PICTURES DO THE TALKING
You are the government. You have the power, the resources and the money. You just have to really care.
***
WHAT'S GOING ON?
