THE Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) has already taken immediate steps not just to rectify practices flagged by the Commission on Audit (COA) but to also ensure the quality and safety of food items that it distributes during calamities and crisis, Social Welfare assistant secretary and spokesman Rommel Lopez said yesterday.
The COA, in its 2022 report, called DSWD’s attention to blunders committed by some of its regional offices, among them the inclusion of rice that are “not fit for human consumption” and canned goods without the required “Halal” certification.
Lopez said the DSWD has already started taking steps to improve the quality of the food items included in the food packs even before the COA released its audit report, such as mandating regional offices to distribute only good quality rice and ensuring that Halal-certified food items are included in the food packages and relief boxes distributed to beneficiaries in calamity or disaster-stricken areas.
He said that in January 2022, during the term of former DSWD Secretary Rolando Bautista, the department has already received complaints about the use of discolored and poor quality of rice which the department addressed.
He said the questioned rice packages were returned to the National Food Authority (NFA) and exchanged for good quality rice.
On the inclusion of alleged imitation canned tuna and non-Halal labeled canned tuna, Lopez said these have been replaced with properly labeled Halal items.
Lopez vowed that the DSWD, especially its regional offices, will adopting with stricter measures in the screening of and bidding for future food supplies.
“As per the current administration’s policy, our disaster response cluster has been working on ways to improve our relief distribution and mechanism, which calls for the immediate replacement of compromised relief items by the suppliers. With the Buong Bansa Handa program, we hope to improve our supply chain in a timely and efficient manner utilizing both government and private supply channels,” Lopez said.
At the same time, Lopez defended DSWD-Caraga’s contract with the Bodequita Enterprises & Services to supply the family food packs for its regional distribution, saying that the supplier submitted its Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) certificate of registration which reflected its line of business and allowed it to engage in food supplies and pre-packed family food packs. He said the documents were submitted to COA March this year.
He said the supplier was chosen based on the emergency procurement done by its Caraga Field Office following the onslaught of typhoon Odette.
“It must be noted that the supplier is engaged in the food business and has been providing services for years, notably in the provision of family food packs, raw materials, and goods for the supplementary feeding program in the Caraga Region,” Lopez said after COA said the supplier was “unqualified” as they do “not engaged in the trade of food products.”
Lopez said the DSWD’s regional offices have committed that in future “succeeding bidding projects, (we) will require the prospective bidders to submit and attach their BIR certificate of registration for further evaluation.”
As this developed, Social Welfare Secretary Rex Gatchalian directed all field offices, bureaus, services, and units attached with the DSWD to observe austerity measures during the conduct of workshops, seminars, training, and other official activities.
The COA in June had called the attention of DSWD on the “incurrence of irregular, unnecessary, and extravagant expenditure” of its attached units and offices after spending over P3.09 million for meals and hotel accommodations of staff and employees.
“Such practices not only undermine our commitment to fiscal responsibility but also hinder our ability to effectively utilize our resources for the interest of the DSWD beneficiaries,” said Gatchalian in issuing a memorandum directing its attached offices to follow the guidelines on the budget parameters for the conduct of workshops, seminars, training, and other official activities.
He said all staff members of the DSWD should familiarize themselves with COA Circular No. 2012-003, or the “Updated Guidelines for the Prevention and Disallowance of Irregular, Unnecessary, Excessive, Extravagant and Unconscionable Expenditures.”
“Strict compliance with these guidelines is enjoined. These guidelines shall remain in effect until a new set of guidelines is issued. Let us show our commitment to upholding fiscal discipline and transparency, ensuring that our financial resources are utilized judiciously to achieve the Department’s goals and serve our beneficiaries effectively,” Gatchalian said.
