95% of foreign Yolanda donations went to UN – Soliman

MANILA, Philippines - A big chunk of foreign government and private donations to post-relief and recovery efforts for victims of Super Typhoon Yolanda went to UN agencies and not the government, Social Welfare Secretary Corazon Soliman said yesterday.

In an update on the Yolanda recovery and rehabilitation efforts, Soliman told the Kapihan sa Manila Bay breakfast media forum at the Luneta Hotel that only a fraction of the donations went to government coffers.

“Close to 95 percent were directly handed over to UN agencies such as the World Food Program, UNICEF (United Nations Children’s Fund) and Habitat (for Humanity),” she said.

The Department of Social Welfare and Development said the government received only P17 billion – P1.2 billion in cash and P1.269 billion in kind – of the P73 billion in aid pledges from the international community.

Soliman said the remaining P14 billion went to non-government organizations and multilateral organizations, among others.

Soliman earlier gave assurances the cash donations were used as intended.

The DSWD has posted a summary of the donations on its website, dswd.gov.ph.

Open to scrutiny

Meanwhile, Soliman said she is open to any scrutiny of any of the DSWD’s projects and programs, including the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) and the P54-billion National Community Driven Development Program-Kapitbisig Laban sa Kahirapan-Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services, by opposition candidates.

“We have nothing to hide and we can answer their questions,” Soliman told The STAR.

She said the Commission on Audit is reviewing all their projects and programs and the department is adhering to its recommendations.

Citing criticisms about the 4Ps program of Leyte Rep. Ferdinand Martin Romualdez, who is running for senator in 2016, Soliman said they have an implementation report even in the congressman’s district.