Soliman: Donations from foreign government and private sectors went to UN

DSWD Sec. Corazon ‘Dinky’ Soliman. Photo courtesy of UNTV

MANILA, PHILIPPINES – Big chunk of donations from foreign government and private sectors to relief and rehabilitation victims of Super Typhoon Yolanda went to UN agencies and not to government, Social Welfare Secretary Corazon Soliman clarified yesterday.

In an update on the Yolanda recovery and Soliman told that only a fraction of the donations went to government.

“Close to 95 percent were directly handed over to UN agencies such as the World Food Program, UNICEF (United Nations Children’s Fund) and Habitat (for Humanity),” Soliman said to the reporters.

According to the Department of Social Welfare and Development, the government only received P17 billion – P1.2 billion in cash and P1.269 billion in kind – of the P73 billion in aid pledges from the international community.

The remaining P14 billion, according to Soliman, went to non-government organizations and multilateral organizations, among others. Meanwhile, she also assured that cash donations were used as intended.

DSWD open to scrutiny

Soliman said she is open to any scrutiny to DSWD’s projects and programs such as the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps), and the P54-billion National Community Driven Development Program-Kapitbisig Laban sa Kahirapan-Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services, by opposition candidates.

“We have nothing to hide and we can answer their questions,” told Soliman in an interview with The Philippine Star.

Soliman also added the Commission on Audit is reviewing all the programs and projects of DSWD and adheres to their recommendations.