Screengrab from https://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/index.html
MANILA, Philippines – The British Embassy in Manila denied a news report that relief aid from the United Kingdom (UK) was not reaching the victims of Supertyphoon ‘‘Yolanda’’ (international name Haiyan.)
“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 on their website.
“The UK government is working closely with international aid agencies and the Philippine government to ensure we are sending supplies to where they are most needed.”
The British news website Dailymail posted a story on December 7 about British aid being sold in shops in Manila and that equipment purchased using financial aid from UK have been locked up in warehouses.
The story quoted a British national Keb Darge, 56, who said he has not seen aid getting to the victims in Hernani, Eastern Samar, where he used to live with his Filipino wife and daughter.
“The aid isn’t getting through to where it’s needed. I’ve seen the deliveries arrive and I’ve seen them disappear,” Darge was quoted as saying.
“Only a tiny percentage of the aid is getting through. The situation isn’t going to improve unless there’s an investigation. Someone needs to go and find out exactly what is happening. It is British aid coming in. Why give it to untrustworthy officials to steal? It is ludicrous,” he said.
Dailymail also said that Darge had taken photos of supplies locked up in warehouses and that he was now in hiding because he received threats from corrupt officials who would be implicated by his evidence.
A Japanese foreign aid worker was also quoted as saying that not enough food was getting to the people and that local officials have been taking the goods.
“There isn’t enough food getting through to people. We don’t have evidence but we believe it is being taken by officials,” Japanese relief worker Shiratori Koti was quoted as saying.
Dailymail mentioned in its report a Philippine news story about United States Meal-Ready-to-Eat (MRE) supplies found being sold in shops in Manila. MREs are issued by the US Department of Defense as food rations for American soldiers.
The United Nations (UN) said Monday that it was looking into why aid has not reached some of the remote outlying islands a month after Yolanda.
“Although we’ve got significant aid now coming in to the major centers, we still have a little bit of a worry that in a couple of the smaller islands that there may be needs there that we haven’t managed to meet yet,” Valerie Amos, UN Under Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator said.
“I’m still hearing worrying reports in the media — indeed I heard one this morning — where people said they hadn’t received any aid as yet, and we’re looking into that,” she said.
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