The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) has reminded the public that selling, repacking, and unauthorized distribution of ready-to-eat food (RTEF) boxes and other relief items provided during disaster response operations are strictly prohibited under Republic Act 10121, or the Philippine Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act of 2010.
Special Assistant to the Secretary Leo Quintilla, who is also Officer-in-Charge of the DSWD National Resource and Logistics Management Bureau (NRLMB), said covering or removing the official DSWD label or distributing the items to people who are not eligible are violations of the law.
“These are distributed free of charge by the DSWD or through local government units to ensure that basic needs are met in times of crisis,” Quintilla said.
Prohibited acts under RA 10121 include diverting or misdelivering relief goods, accepting or using items not intended for the recipient, misrepresenting the source by replacing or defacing labels, and repacking goods into containers with different markings to make it appear they came from another agency or individual.
Quintilla added that the contents of each RTEF box—which include canned goods, arroz caldo, champorado, protein biscuits, and complementary food for infants—are printed on the box to help recipients easily verify whether it has been tampered with.
