Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Secretary Virginia N. Orogo today assured the public of the quality of relief goods that the Department is distributing to the residents of Boracay in Malay, Aklan who have been affected by the temporary closure of the island.

“The welfare of the people is of utmost importance to the DSWD. We have stringent quality control in the production of our family food packs to ensure that only quality relief items reach the people that we serve,” Sec. Orogo stated.

The welfare chief made the statement amid reports on the expired relief items distributed to Boracay residents. She said she was deeply concerned over the issue.

“We detest learning that contaminated goods have reached the residents of Boracay who are currently experiencing a crisis. It is not acceptable as we put paramount importance to the welfare of the people whenever we conduct relief efforts,” Sec. Orogo said.

Upon learning of the incident, the Secretary ordered DSWD-Field Office VI to conduct an initial investigation.   Aside from the investigation by the Field Office, Sec. Orogo will also initiate a separate investigation on the incident.

“According to the initial investigation of our FO VI, the contamination happened during the stages of handling and hauling of the goods. However, we ensure that during the packing stage, these were in good condition,” she explained.

The reported contaminated goods represent 0.25 percent or seven packs out of the total 2,760 family food packs so far hauled for distribution to the island. Sec. Orogo said FO VI has already directed for the immediate replacement of the contaminated relief supplies.

“We deeply apologize for the incident. We have already given strict orders to all our warehouse staff as well as to our personnel who are assigned in the hauling and delivery of our relief supplies to ensure the quality of the goods that we are releasing so that this will not happen again,” she said.

“Rest assured that the DSWD will continue to strengthen the monitoring of our relief items to make our relief efforts for families affected by disasters more efficient,” Sec. Orogo added.

Finally, the welfare executive said the DSWD will continue to help the people of Boracay Island and those workers affected by the closure.

“Our Operations Center will always be open to serve the affected residents,” she ended. ###