Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Officer-In-Charge Emmanuel A. Leyco today assured that the Department does not distribute expired relief goods in the wake of an investigation being conducted by the Albay Public Safety and Emergency Management Office on alleged expired relief goods being distributed to evacuees.

OIC Leyco said that he has talked with DSWD Field Office V Director Arnel Garcia to inquire about the alleged report of expired relief goods. He further clarified that according to the report of DSWD Field Office V, all the relief goods being distributed to the affected families of Mt. Mayon eruption will expire in 2020.

He further clarified that DSWD distributes relief goods three months before the expiration date.

“We distribute these through our Food For Work (FFW) program wherein DSWD provides family food packs in exchange for the work  carried out by the beneficiaries.

“Sinisigurado ko na hindi expired ang mga relief goods na ipinamamahagi ng Departamento dahil hindi katanggap-tanggap yan. At kung meron man ay aaksyunan natin agad yan ( I am sure that relief goods being distributed by DSWD are not expired because that is not acceptable. And if there are indeed, rest assured that we will immediately act on it),” OIC Leyco emphasized.

Last Monday, OIC Leyco flew to Albay to personally assess the conditions in the evacuation centers and checked the status of relief goods distribution.

“Sa aming assessment, sapat pa ang suplay ng aming mga relief goods at hindi kami nananawagan ng donasyon (In our assessment, our supply of relief goods is still enough and we are not calling for donations). The situation is stable and manageable,” he added.

To date, 19,113 families or 72,441 persons are currently taking temporary shelter in 88 evacuation centers while 2,287 families or 9,720 persons are currently staying with relatives/friends in Camalig, Daraga, Malilipot, and Santo Domingo, who are also being assisted.

DSWD Field Office V has released yesterday additional 34,592 Family Food Packs worth P13,905,984 to eight municipalities of Albay.  With this, total augmentation assistance of DSWD to LGUs is P32,833,008.2. ###