• Home
  • About me
  • My Privacy Policy

Inside Philippine politics & beyond

Did you know misrepresenting the source of relief goods is a crime?

November 18, 2013

Share:
Twitter0
Facebook0
LinkedIn0
Pinterest0

Punishable by six to 12 years imprisonment

By Raïssa Robles

Fr. Chito Damaranan of the Salesian Society of Don Bosco is angry. He wrote today on his Facebook page:

“There are unscrupulous government people who slow down the pace of relief distribution for they are repacking the goods, by stripping away all signs that they came from foreign donors and replacing them with government signs that make it appear like they came from our honorable, generous, and ever loyal public servants. I am aghast. I am angry. And I am making myself the spokesman of these people who are also aghast, angry, and absolutely disgusted at this image conscious government run by showbiz personalities masquerading as public servants.”

If these are true, people have to put a stop to it.

People have to name names.

It is the only way we can change our political culture.

UPDATE: AS OF 8:09 pm, November 19, 2013

The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) has finally explained why it repacka foreign donations and puts them in bags stamped with the “DSWD” logo. Here is the explanation.

When a politician re-labels relief goods with his miserable greasy face, he could be violating Republic Act No. 10121 or the “Philippine Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act of 2010”.

Like many of you, I thought we had no law against making E-Pal during disasters. It turns out that we do. It was one of the last laws Benigno Aquino III signed as a senator just before he became President in 2010.

Among the prohibited acts are:

Misrepresenting the source of relief goods, equipment or other aid commodities by:

(1) Either covering, replacing or defacing the labels of the containers to make it appear that the goods, equipment or other aid commodities came from another agency or persons;

(2) Repacking the goods, equipment or other aid commodities into containers with different markings to make it appear that the goods came from another agency or persons or was released upon the instance of a particular agency or persons;

(3) Making false verbal claim that the goods, equipment or other and commodity in its untampered original containers actually came from another agency or persons or was released upon the instance of a particular agency or persons;

Substituting or replacing relief goods, equipment or other aid commodities with the same items or inferior/cheaper quality;

Such actions are punishable with the following:

  • A fine of P50,000 to P500,000 or;
  • A jail term of six to 12 years or both;
  • Perpetual disqualification from public office if the offender is with the government;
  • Confiscation of the goods in favor of the government.

Interestingly, the law does not punish politicians who give donations plastered with their names. Even if these donations did not come from their own pockets. However, if the goods came from their pork barrel or office money, isn’t that misrepresenting the source? It’s a gray area and the lawmakers made it that way.

Still, with this law, it is time to show politicians enough is enough.

Let’s start making examples.

Tagged With: "Philippine Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act of 2010, Fr. Chito Damaranan of the Salesian Society of Don Bosco, Republic Act No. 10121

Comments

  1. vander anievas says

    December 3, 2013 at 9:57 PM

    its endearing to hear someone who is angry at wrong-doings. the man is sane. his thinking is upright. i hope pinoys who see or saw anomalous things going on around his turf will do what fr. chito did.
    sir, you are okay to me. saludo po ako.

« Older Comments
First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out— Because I was not a Socialist Then they came fof the Trade Unionists, and I did not out speak out— Because I was not a Trade Unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out— Because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me— And there was no one left to speak for me. —Martin Niemöller (1892-1984)

Subscribe to raissarobles.com

Please select all the ways you would like to hear from raissarobles.com:

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. For information about our privacy practices, please visit our website.

This blog uses MailChimp as a mass mailing platform. By clicking below to subscribe, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to MailChimp but only for processing. Learn more about MailChimp's privacy practices here.

Christopher “Bong” Go is a billionaire – Duterte

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_NmX1Px57cI

Find more of my articles by typing here:

My Stories (2009 – Present)

Cyber-Tambayan on Twitter:

Tweets by raissawriter

Copyright © 2023 · News Pro Theme On Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish.Accept Decline Read More
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Non-necessary
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
SAVE & ACCEPT