TACLOBAN CITY-The regional office of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) is now readying of filing a case against a food eatery owner found to have been selling rice intended for typhoon victims.
Nestor Ramos, regional DSWD director, said that their lawyers are now studying on what possible case they would file against the owner of the establishment.
Ramos, however, declined to identify the food eatery and its owner except to say that he has a personal account on this incident.
“We confiscated 17 bags of 25 kilos of rice, with a seal DSWD not for sale. We would be studying what case to file against the owner of the food eatery. Our purpose is to know who sold him the rice and why it is that he is selling it also,” Ramos told Leyte Samar Daily Express in a phone interview.
According to Ramos, the incident took place last April 3 evening while he was eating inside the establishment in Brgy. 23, this city.
“I personally went there, they don’t know me as I was eating there and I caught them by chance. The owner alleged to have bought that rice at P600 per bag. I called the police to assist us during the situation,” Ramos said, adding that the owner was not cooperating when he asked him questions like who sold him the rice intended for victims of Yolanda.
Ramos said that he took the rice to serve as evidence as for the possible case they would file against the owner.
The DSWD regional director said that they would dig deeper on this issue when asked if there could be a possibility that some of his staff might be involved on this matter.
Meanwhile, Tacloban Mayor Alfred Romualdez said that he “understand” why some people are doing this.
“That is something bound to happen. Number 1, pagod na rin ang tao; isang buwan na panay sardinas pa rin kinakain nila. So some of them choose to barter that or sell that and then buy something like fresh meat or fresh fish, in order to have something better or different to eat,” Romualdez said.
“But the reason why that happened nakikita ko diyan dahil kapag iyong mga pagkain na binibigay na bigas ay walang measure eh. Ibig sabihin ay whether your family is having one, or five children or nine children, it doesn’t matter, they also give you one sack of rice every month,” Romualdez said.
Romualdez, however, stressed that the DSWD should continue in giving food reliefs to the victims of Yolanda. (RONALD O.REYES)
