TACLOBAN CITY—Police in Dagami, Leyte found an “unestimated volume” of rice on excavated ground in Barangay Macaalang, a village hit hard by Typhoon “Yolanda” in November 2013.
A report from the local police office said the dumped goods bore the marks NFA and DSWD, which stand for two government agencies National Food Authority and Department of Social Welfare and Development.
“Ocular conducted revealed that, the manmade excavated rectangular hole is approximately 10 feet wide, 15 feet in length and 8 feet deep,” a report from Dagami police station online which was spread by netizens over the weekend.
According to the local police, a concerned citizen alerted them that “there was an on-going activity of disposing NFA rice on an excavated hole at Barangay Macaalang, Dagami, Leyte believed to be from DSWD” Friday afternoon (Nov. 27) last week.
The local police and DSWD in the region said they are investigating the incident.
The issue of dumped rice and relief goods being lost to spoilage continues to hound DSWD after typhoon Yolanda hit the region, with no less than the Commission on Audit calling its attention on its recent audit reports.
Meanwhile, fisherfolk in Tacloban City also called on the government to continue the clearing of Cancabato bay from debris and skeletal remains of the victims of typhoon Yolanda two years ago as another human skeletal parts believed to be that of a 25-year- old female and 60-year-old male were found in the said bay area last week.
Another motor vehicle swept to the sea during Yolanda was also retrieved in the same area.
On Nov. 8 this year, six skeletal remains were also retrieved in the coastal village of San Jose, this city.
