DSWD on buried rice in Leyte: Not safe for eating

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) on Wednesday claimed that the reported buried relief goods in Dagami, Leyte were not safe for human consumption.

A few days ago, the acting chief of police of Dagami received a report from a concerned citizen about an ongoing activity of disposing rice believed to be from the DSWD into an excavated hole in the area.

Social Welfare Secretary Corazon "Dinky" Soliman said that the agency was performing its duty to ensure that disaster survivors will only receive safe relief goods.

"We wanted to make sure that these goods that were unfit for human consumption would not be given to the survivors as a way of protecting their welfare," Soliman said in a state news report.

Soliman admitted that some DSWD personnel committed negligence and failed to assure that the goods remained safe.

The DSWD chief has ordered a thorough investigation to find out who are liable for neglect and to file administrative charges against them.

Soliman acknowledged the gaps and "human errors" in the agency's capacity to manage relief goods and assured that they are exploring ways for improvement.

READ: DSWD acquires system that packs 50,000 relief goods a day

"This is why we continue to enhance our warehousing capacity," Soliman said.

The investigation of Dagami authorities showed that the excavated hole is approximately 10-feet wide, 15 feet in length and eight feet deep.

Rotten rice of undetermined volume and packaging marked "NFA rice" and "DSWD" were discovered in the hole.