UN probing alleged non-delivery of typhoon aid

CANBERRA – The United Nations is investigating reports that aid has yet to reach remote parts of the Philippines a month after the onslaught of Super Typhoon Yolanda, the UN humanitarian chief said yesterday.

Valerie Amos, UN undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator, said she had expected that aid had been delivered by helicopter to survivors in even the most remote outlying islands following the Nov. 8 disaster.

“Although we’ve got significant aid now coming into the major centers, we still have a little bit of a worry that in a couple of the smaller islands, there may be needs that we haven’t managed to meet yet,” she said.

“I’m still hearing worrying reports in the media – indeed I heard one this morning – where people said they had not received any aid yet, and we’re looking into that,’” she said.

Yolanda and its tsunami-like storm surge plowed through Tacloban and other coastal areas, leaving more than 5,700 dead and more than 1,700 missing throughout the region. About four million people were displaced.

Amos, in Australia for aid talks with the government, defended the Philippine government against criticism that it was too slow in delivering aid to victims.

She said the Philippines responded to more than 20 typhoons this year and was well prepared for storms.

“But the scale and severity of this was something which none of us could have anticipated,” Amos said.

NDRRMC to conduct probe

The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC), on the other hand, is ready to look into reports that donations from the United Kingdom are being sold for profit by corrupt local officials.

NDRRMC spokesman Maj. Rey Balido yesterday called on those who know something about the alleged diversion of relief goods to coordinate with authorities so it can be addressed.

He said the NDRRMC has not received formal complaints about the supposed selling of donations, the latest issue to plague the government’s relief efforts.

“We are awaiting the official complaint so we can start doing the necessary steps and so that we can investigate these kinds of incidents,” Balido told reporters at Camp Aguinaldo yesterday.

Armed Forces public affairs chief Lt. Col. Ramon Zagala echoed this, saying the matter should be brought to law enforcement officials.

Balido admitted that reports about individuals taking advantage of the typhoon could create a negative image of the Philippines.

No aid diversion

But the British embassy in Manila yesterday gave assurance that relief goods from the UK have reached the Visayas.

“We have no evidence of British aid being used for anything other than the relief effort, which is helping hundreds of thousands of Filipinos rebuild their lives,” the British embassy said in a statement. 

The embassy said the UK government is working closely with international aid agencies and the Philippine government to ensure supplies are sent to where they are most needed.

On Sunday, British paper The Daily Mail reported that donations from UK that were intended for victims of Yolanda were being diverted and sold for profit by corrupt local officials.  – Alexis Romero, Rainier Allan Ronda, Pia Lee-Brago, AP