The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) has reiterated its policy against the donation of used clothes meant for disaster victims.
DSWD Special Assistant to the Secretary for Disaster Response Management Group (DRMG) Leo Quintilla said, besides cash, the agency accepts food and non-food donations, but some in-kind goods, such as used clothing, are still not accepted under existing policies.
“Used clothing and textile, hindi po [tayo tumatanggap] because before ng wala pa tayong mga policy, may pumapasok sa amin na mga wedding gown. Siguro nagki-clear na ng mga closet nila. (We don’t accept used clothing and textile because before, when we didn’t have policies, we had wedding gowns coming in. Maybe the donors are clearing out their closets),” Quintilla said in a media forum on Thursday, Feb. 15.
“So what is important is bago po ang kinakailangan ng ating mga beneficiaries (our beneficiaries need new clothes),” he added.
To support the local garment industry and avoid health risks that could be spread through used clothing, the DSWD complies with Republic Act (RA) No. 4653 by upholding the “no used clothing policy.”
Mind the expiry date
Quintilla also reminded the public not to donate food items that would expire in less than six months.
“Because nagi-stockpiling tayo, kailangan more than six months yung kanyang expiry (Because we are stockpiling, the expiration date must be longer than six months),” he said.
“Kasama na rin dito ‘yung food items na formula milk because we have a law on this. So hindi pa rin tayo nag-a-accept pa ng formula milk as donation (We also do not accept food items that are formula milk because we have a law for this. So we still don’t accept formula milk as a donation),” he pointed out.
In addition, the DSWD does not accept donations of tobacco products, unregistered toys and educational materials, and unregulated furniture and equipment, Quintilla added.
He said food and non-food donations are accepted at all DSWD offices.
DSWD also has donation desks at its regional offices, as well as the Disaster Response Management Bureau at the central office, where donations can be accepted.
Donors can also send cash donations through the DSWD’s bank accounts.