Customs donates confiscated rice to DSWD

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines — The Customs district office in Zamboanga City has donated 6,921 sacks of confiscated glutinous rice to the regional office of the Department of Social Welfare and Development, which will distribute it to families affected by El Niño.
 
Hadja Luz Ali, Customs district head accounting officer, formally handed the donation to DSWD Regional Director Nestor Ramos in a simple ceremony at the Bureau of Customs office.

The rice, which came in 25-kilogram sacks, can be used for rice cakes and 'suman' that the beneficiary families can sell to help them get through the dry spell.

The donation was approved by Customs Commissioner Leonardo Rey Guerrero with the coordination of Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III as part of the bureau's assistance to the DSWD.

"There is also an instruction of President Rodrigo Duterte to donate to the DSWD because they know the intended targets of the relief operations," Customs district collector Segundo Sigmunfreud Barte said.

He said the donation sourced from 80,000 bags of smuggled glutinous rice seized by the bureau, adding Customs is ready to donate more confiscated goods if the DSWD is allowed to accept them.

Director Ramos said the DSWD will use the rice to help families in the Zamboanga Peninsula affected by the dry spell. He said that the Agriculture department estimates around 30,000 families in the region have been affected by the lack of rain.

He said the donated rice is not enough and that the office is waiting for funding release from the Department of Budget and Management.

"The priority for the assistance are the farmers," Ramos said.