THE Bureau of Customs has donated over 16,000 bags of rice to the Department of Social Welfare and Development in a bid to augment the government’s disaster relief efforts for victims of destructive typhoons that struck the country recently.
Customs said in a report to Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III the bags of rice were equivalent to around 417,000 kilos.
Customs turned over 9,000 bags of rice seized in the Port of Cebu to the DSWD on Sept. 14 in compliance with the directive of the Finance chief.
Another 6,921 bags in the Port of Zamboanga and 748 bags in the custody of the bureau’s Enforcement and Security Service were also donated to the DSWD on Sept. 19 and 24, respectively.
The Customs donated to the DSWD 5,040 pieces of canned goods, 109 packages of emergency survival blankets; 350 boxes of bedsheets, blankets and towels; 1,332 boxes of brand new clothes, and 153 packages of face masks from the Manila International Container Port on Sept. 21.