'Bogus typhoon victims to be punished'

MANILA, Philippines - Social Welfare Secretary Esperanza Cabral warned yesterday that unscrupulous individuals posing as typhoon victims to get relief goods could be thrown in jail.

“Those who are taking advantage of the situation, I warn you, the government will not tolerate this. If you’re caught, you will be punished,” Cabral told the weekly Kapihan sa Manila Hotel media forum.

She said persons who would be caught pretending to be victims of the storm to enable themselves to avail of relief goods from the government and non-government organizations could be incarcerated.

According to her, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and other non-governmental organizations are more focused on distributing relief supplies, such as food, to the victims than checking if the recipients were really affected by the calamity.

“If we will check them one by one we will not be able to finish our distribution,” she said. “I asked the public to report to us those who are taking advantage of the situation.”

In the meantime, Cabral said the government would continue to provide assistance to the victims of the natural disasters.

She asked the public to donate ready-to-eat food like canned goods. School supplies such as notebooks, pad paper, pencils and bags, are also needed by the evacuees.

She said they are trying to transfer some of the evacuees, who are currently being housed in schools, to other public or private buildings so classes could resume as soon as possible.

As of yesterday, a total of 86,571 families affected by tropical storm “Ondoy” and typhoon “Pepeng” were still living in evacuation centers.

As of yesterday, Cabral said her department has still P24 million remaining in its 2009 calamity fund, adding that they requested some P100 million contingency fund from the Department of Budget and Management to ensure that the government would not run out of budget for its relief operations during natural disasters.

Cabral said four to five more tropical cyclones are likely to enter the country this year according to the state weather bureau.

As of yesterday, the DSWD has released some P2.6 million for the victims of typhoon Pepeng, which battered northern Luzon provinces last Saturday.

For the victims of Ondoy, she said, some P19.3 million were already released by the DSWD.

Ondoy slammed several areas in Luzon, including Metro Manila, last Sept. 26, killing nearly 300 people.

She said the DSWD has also pre-positioned standby funds worth P154.46 million for the victims of Pepeng and another P11.5 million for the victims of Ondoy.