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The case of Bambee Dela Paz blog account of the Valley Golf Brawl should have taught the Filipino blogging community a lesson.  Otherwise, the Philippine blogosphere will be nothing more than a gossip mill.

I first caught sight of the brewing blogstorm yesterday late in the morning  and it centered around a blogger’s account of relief goods rotting in the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) warehouse. Apparently, a blogger named Ella, wrote an entry that accused the DSWD of hoarding relief goods and accused Social Welfare Esperanza Cabral of holding on to the goods so that it can be diverted for other purposes.

Because it reads like a sincere personal account, contains claims of being intended to help disaster victims, and pitches allegations of corruption against an agent of the Gloria Macapagal Arroyo administration, the blog post spread through the Philippine blogosphere.  The story got reposted without much thought about how it may cause donations to the Philippines to stop flowing and so lead to a situation where disaster victims will suffer.

Dean Jorge Bocobo, a blogger on Philippine Commentary and formerly with Filipino Voices, said it best: “Folks who’ve been gleefully spreading a rumor that relief goods are rotting in DSWD warehouses ought to be as energetic posting Sec. Cabral’s reply. If foreign donations end, victims suffer. Get it, Einstein? You jerks are giving Bloggers a bad name, too.”

I think the important underlying lesson in this is that bloggers ought to think first before they post.  They have to learn the rules that make for credible journalism.

Ella’s story is quite similar to the blog post of Martin Cervantes, an employee of Ayala Land Inc., who posted a note on Facebook saying that the distribution of relief goods at an evacuation center were deliberately stalled so that Philippine National Red Cross Chairman Richard Gordon could be seen distributing the relief goods.  Cervantes badmouthed the head of the country’s oldest humanitarian institution and accused him of using the distribution of relief goods as political propaganda.

A noted blogger, perhaps one of the most well known because of his political pedigree and his TV shows, took Cervante’s word as gospel truth and caused Cervante’s post to spread far and wide.

I investigated Martin’s account and even got in touch with him over the phone. What he was really angry about was that he had to suffer the inconvenience of waiting for four hours at the relief center.  He himself admitted that he had heard no direct orders from Gordon to the Red Cross staff on the ground to delay the distribution of the relief goods.

The human resources department of Ayala Land Inc. got wind of Cervante’s tirade on Facebook and he was reprimanded for spreading a warped account of what transpired.  Over the phone, Cervantes told me that his life was under threat and he was forced by his company to print an apology on the internet.

Perhaps, in the case of Ella’s blog, DSWD Esperanza Cabral didn’t think much of it when it was first brought to her attention.  The trouble begins when other bloggers start resposting the story and it begins to have a life of its own when bloggers with huge followings start reposting the story.

In this case, I don’t know if Jologs Queen took this up, but one of the big bloggers who took up the cause was Chuvaness or Cecille Van Straten.  Here is an excerpt from Chuvaness’ blog entry:

“A blogger named Ella wrote about her experience volunteering for the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), and discovering that a lot of relief good are being kept in a warehouse and not actually being given to typhoon victims.”

“You know what really got to me are the toys. WTF are they going to do with the toys they’re keeping in the warehouse?? This makes me so mad.”

Then came the re-post of Ella’s blog, here are some excerpts:

Dear friends,

I’m asking your help to spread the word. Tulungan po ninyo akong ikalat ito. (Help me spread this.) Beyond this, we should also demand action. I disabled a plugin so you can copy the photos of relief goods rotting in DSWD warehouses. You can link this post to your blogs, facebook, websites etc. You can also email the photos.

Philippine News (US based Philippine newspaper) will use this as its front page story this week. Every Filipino has the right to know where the tons of donations from the UN and other counties go. Kahit po nakakahiya sa mga nag-donate. (Even if it is embarassing to admit to those who are donating.) Kung sa ganitong paraan, matutulungan natin ang mga nasalanta, then by all means, let’s do it. (Even in this way, we will be able to help disaster victims, then by all means, let’s do it.)

For those who have the time, please try to volunteer sa DSWD warehouses. Getting in was not easy. A friend had to put in a word for us. Let’s see kung madali nang makapasok sa DSWD warehouse ang mga volunteers. (Let’s see if volunteers will find it easier to get inside the warehouse after this.)

Please read on and good luck to us.

Editor of Philippine News: Why are the relief goods in DSWD warehouses not moving?
DSWD Secretary Esperanza Cabral: Wala kasing volunteers.

This short interview was done over the phone. Philippine News wanted to hear her side pero ayaw niyang makipag-usap sa press. (Philippine News wanted to hear her side but she didn’t want to talk with the press.) After four tries, pinasabi na lang niya ang maikling sagot na ito sa secretary niya – “Walang volunteers”. (After four tries, she asked her secretary to say “There are no volunteers.”)

I don’t want to accuse her of corruption but at the very least she is showing signs of being totally incompetent. We are in a state of calamity where every second counts. May namamatay araw-araw dahil sa sakit. (There are people dying everyday because of diseases.)

In my opinion, these deaths could have been prevented if Secretary Cabral had tried a little harder to do her job.

Ella concluded her blog entry with this:

Sa maghapon namin sa warehouse,nakagawa kami ng 150 sacks of relief goods. 150 bags of relief goods lang ang lumabas sa warehouse na ‘yon that day. At nandoon pa rin sa loob ang mga imported relief goods, safe, sound and packed as the day they arrived. (In the course of one entire afternoon, we were able to repack 150 sacks of relief goods. Only 150 bags of relief goods were brought out of the warehouse that day.  So, still inside the warehouse are the imported relief goods, safe, sound and packed as the day they arrived.)

Nakisakay kami palabas sa isang DSWD delivery van. Gusto sana kaming ihatid ng driver hanggang Makati pero wala raw siyang sobrang gasolina. Ibinaba na lang niya kami sa gitna ng EDSA. Millions of dollars in donations, walang extrang pang-gasolina. (We hitched a ride on a DSWD delivery van. The driver wanted to bring us to Makati but he said that he didn’t have enough gas. We were instead asked to go down in the middle of EDSA.)

Susulpot din siguro ang laman ng mga mahiwagang kahon at mapapasakamay din ng mga tao…sa ARAW NG ELEKSYON. O mabibili na nila ang mga imported goods na ‘yon sa mga puwesto sa Quiapo at Divisoria. (Perhaps the contents of these sacks of relief goods will magically appear there and be put in the hands of people… on eleksyon day.  Or the goods will be sold in stalls at Quiapo and Divisoria).

In contrast to Cecille, Carlos Celdran’s Facebook status update showed a sincere effort to get at the real story: “Carlos Celdran  just heard about the rotting dswd scandal now. Whats going on? Im out of loop. Is it true?”

Cabral’s saving grace, it seems, is that Celdran once worked with Cabral.  His friends came up with a series of comments explaining what had happened.

Eunice Reyes pointed to a re-post of “Blog ni Ella” in Mabuhay Girl’s blog, http://mabuhaygirl.multiply.com/journal/item/1104/WTF_is_going_on_Blog_Ni_Ella

This was followed by Mona Caccam’s comment which was the first to present DSWD Secretary Esperanza Cabral’s side “And here is Sec. Cabral’s response: http://www.gmanews.tv/story/175402/blog-about-rotting-relief-goods-at-dswd-warehouse-sparks-cyberspace-queries”

Carlos Celdran’s reply to the comments drove home a good point and I think it is the proper way of dealing with stories of a scandalous sort, “I want to know both sides before i judge. I have spread stuff before that was not confirmed and i lived to regret it. Dont want to repost until i see a clear picture.”

Checking on Carlo’s wall on Facebook this morning, I found him appealing to his friends to pay heed to Social Welfare Secretary Cabral’s rejoinder to Ella’s blog.

Here is Cabral’s response to the Ella blog:

Statement of Dr. Esperanza Cabral on the issue of relief goods in the DSWD Warehouse

The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) manages the National Relief Operations Center (NROC) which is the facility for processing and storage of relief goods that are purchased by the Department or donated to us by generous individuals both here and abroad. The relief goods are released to our Regional Offices or directly to evacuation centers or to the local government units as they are needed and requested by these entities. They are delivered in trucks, many of which were lent to us by private companies or by military vehicles. Some of the goods are shipped by air from nearby Villamor Airbase.

When typhoons Ondoy and Pepeng hit the country, we received and are continuing to receive donations. Our warehouses are indeed full, inspite of the fact that we have distributed 500,000 food packs and 200,000 clothing packs as well as thousands of sacks of rice, blankets, beddings, and items of personal hygiene in the past almost 4 weeks. That is the reason why when asked if we still have enough goods, my constant reply is yes, so far we do, thanks to the many kind-hearted individuals and organizations as well as countries who responded and are still responding to the plight of the typhoon victims.

There are no rotting relief goods in our warehouses as we do not keep perishables there and the relief goods that are there, save for the donated old clothes are quite new since they have been either recently purchased by us or have been just donated.

Our goods are repacked by volunteers who are there because they want to help. But they are volunteers and report when they have time to help us. Sometimes there are two hundred of them and sometimes there are only a dozen. However many or few they are, we appreciate their presence and their assistance. Weekdays are usually quiet but on Saturdays and Sundays, the students, along with others who work Monday to Friday, including our own employees, are there.

Our staff at the warehouse work round the clock even now, making sure that the requests for relief goods are met in a timely manner. They work hard, they work quietly and they work humbly and I feel bad that they have been subjected to public vilification that they do not deserve.

I do not recall having talked to an Editor of Philippine News. I do remember my secretary telling me that someone was on the phone asking why there were no volunteers working at the warehouse. My reply was we do not own the time of the volunteers.

I wish that I could have prevented the deaths from typhoons but in fact, they have nothing to do with the relief goods that we are in charge of. Most of the deaths were from drowning or injuries sustained during the typhoon. Some died of illnesses. We are not in charge of rescue nor are we in charge of health and to the best of my knowledge, none of the deaths was due to absence of or delay in the delivery of relief goods.

We would like to assure all of you that the relief goods will reach the intended beneficiaries as they become necessary and will be used only to assist them. However, the relief goods don’t all go out at the same time and an empty warehouse is not proof that the goods were used properly just as a full warehouse  is not evidence that the goods are being hoarded. If you visit our website www.dswd.gov.ph  you will find updates on our activities related to typhoons Ondoy and Pepeng. It includes an updated list of donations received and goods released from the DSWD warehouse.

There are many aspects of disaster response. They include recovery and rehabilitation and in both instances, goods and other resources  are still needed. In the initial reaction to a calamity, people will want to help and as we saw recently, they came in droves, offering their time, their talent and their resources. We want them to know how much we appreciate them  for what they have done and what they are still doing. But further down the road, when the initial flush of generosity gives way to donor fatigue, there will remain only a few hardy NGOs and volunteers and the workers of the DSWD and other government agencies to continue the job of helping the disaster victims back on their feet.  Judicious use of resources at the outset is imperative lest we face the situation of even greater want after a period of relative plenty.  We at the DSWD wish to assure you that your trust in us is not misplaced. Thank you.