Social Welfare and Development Secretary Esperanza I. Cabral said that 50 foreign donors for victims of the recent typhoons have been granted tax exemptions for their donations and their goods have been released promptly to their local consignees as provided for by Executive Order No. 831 issued by President Gloria-Macapagal Arroyo on October 1.

EO 831 authorized the Department of Finance, for the duration of the current emergency, complete discretion in granting tax and tariff exemptions for relief goods donated from abroad provided these are for the account of the DSWD or any of the relief organizations not operated for profit, duly registered with and approved by the DSWD.

The donated goods came from groups or individuals from countries such as Taiwan, Canada, Malaysia, Singapore, Japan, New Zealand, The Netherlands, Korea, USA, Australia, United Kingdom, United Arab Emirates, Dubai, and Saudi Arabia.

The donations consist of water purifiers, tents, boats, medicines, blankets, clothes, shoes, mattresses, canned goods, biscuits, noodles, milk, and items for personal hygiene such as soap, sanitary napkins, toothbrush and toothpaste.

“The Executive Order made it easier for foreign donors to send their donations to the Philippines which have greatly helped both the DSWD and non-governmental organizations in our relief efforts,” Secretary Cabral explained.

Secretary Cabral hopes that more foreign donors will extend assistance to the typhoon victims stating that, “we still need a lot of resources in order to implement the recovery and rehabilitation projects for the typhoon victims.”

Secretary Cabral added that EO 831 created the One-Stop Shop in all the collection districts of the Bureau of Customs headed by the DOF and composed of representatives from the DSWD, the Departments of Health, Education, Agriculture, National Defense, and Foreign Affairs.
The One-Stop Shop provides the duty free and tax-free processing of donated relief goods consigned to the DSWD or to DSWD-accredited, registered and licensed non-government organizations (NGOs).

“The list of accredited NGOs that were granted tax-free entry of donations as well as the list of donations received by the DSWD may be accessed at the DSWD website, www.dswd.gov.ph. The non-governmental organizations should now reciprocate by providing the public and the government with an accurate and complete report of how they disposed of the relief goods that they were allowed to bring in tax-free,” Secretary Cabral concluded. ### (DSWD – Social Marketing Service) November 25, 2009