28-06-2025
DSWD: Reselling of disaster relief packs against the law
The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) warned against the repackaging and reselling of relief items for disaster response, such as ready-to-eat food (RTEF) boxes.
DSWD-National Resource and Logistics Management Bureau (NRLMB) Officer-In-Charge and Special Assistant to the Secretary (SAS) Leo Quintilla said that the RTEFs and family food packs (FFPs) are reserved for victims of calamities and emergencies.
'Ito ang mga bawal: pagbenta at pagbili, bawal ang pag repack, pagpalit na laman—hindi pwedeng palitan ang laman. Violation ito sa RA 10121… These are distributed free of charge by the DSWD or through local government units (LGUs) to ensure that basic needs are met in times of crisis," Quantilla said in a radio interview.
(These are what's not allowed: reselling and purchasing, repacking isn't allowed, replacing the items—you cannot replace what is in the box. This is a violation of RA 10121… These are distributed free of charge by the DSWD or through local government units (LGUs) to ensure that basic needs are met in times of crisis.)
"Pwede kang kasuhan kapag nilabag mo ang mga ito,' she added.
(You may face charges if you violate any of these.)
Other acts prohibited by RA10121 are as follows:
Misdelivering goods or aid to persons other than the rightful recipient
Accepting, possessing, using or disposing goods or aid without being the rightful recipient
Misrepresenting the source of goods or aid by covering, replacing or defacing labels to appear as if it came from another agency or person
Repacking goods or aid to containers with different markings from another agency or person
DSWD also shared that each RTEF box included the following:
Five cans of tuna paella
One can of chicken pastil
One can of giniling
Two packs of arroz caldo
Three packs of champorado
Two protein biscuits
One complementary food for infants
'What is important also is nandito na sa box yung content o anong laman. Alam ng tao anong laman, dapat pagbukas ng tao ay ito ang mga laman ng RTEF box,' she said.
(What is important also is that the content is already listed on the box. The people know what is inside, so when they open the RTEF box, it should be there.)——Jiselle Anne Casucian/ VAL, GMA Integrated News
