WATCH

Marawi evacuees lament delayed, nonexistent govt assistance

Evacuees who had fled the fighting in Marawi City are complaining of delayed, near useless, and even nonexistent assistance from the government, GMA News TV program "State of the Nation with Jessica Soho" reported on Tuesday.

An unidentified evacuee said that they were going hungry as they had received no food assistance at all. "Di ba ang pagkain, tatlong beses? Ginawa na lang naming dalawang beses para ma-ipon namin 'yung pagkain," said the female evacuee.

Meanwhile, a Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) office in Iligan City's Barangay Tubod was overwhelmed by the number of home-based evacuees who were registering for the Disaster Assistance Family Access Card (DAFAC).

While card holders were promised P5000 in financial assistance and food packs, evacuees complained that they were not likely to receive the assistance anytime soon.

"Uwi na lang daw sa Marawi bago daw ibibigay. Sabi ko, 'Kailan pa 'yan? Ang tagal-tagal pa naman yan, eh, "" grumbled evacuee Macky Sultan.

Sultan also complained that while some of them had received nothing, other evacuees had already been given P1000.

Others also complained that they had not received the food packs that were supposed to be provided DAFAC holders.

DAFAC

The local DSWD office explained that the P1000 was given to evacuees who had registered last June 14, and was for the Eid'l Fitr holiday.

DSWD Region 10 Director Nestor Ramos added that the P5000 was there to help DAFAC registered evacuees rebuild their lives.

"The 5,000 will still be given to them, once they would return back to Marawi as a start sa pa-hanap-buhay nila, paglilinis ng bahay nila," explained Ramos

Also, some evacuees were not issued DAFACs, either because porok leaders could not vouch for them or because there was something irregular in their application.

"We found out na 'di talaga siya (ang isang evacuee) totoong married. So iyon, dine-deny po natin yun, kasi ay supposed to be, i-issue po natin per household," explained local DSWD official Sitie Aisah Hassan.

Though the deadline for DAFAC registration had been set for July 5, the DSWD said that they would continue to register evacuees after that date.

However, those registered after the deadline would likely face further delays in their assistance. — Margaret Claire Layug/DVM, GMA News