BY MARCHEL P. ESPINA
Netizens in Bacolod City were abuzz yesterday after a resident of Barangay Banago posted on social media site Facebook that the relief goods they received from the city government were expired.
Dismayed, Milrose Villegas took to social media and complained that the food packs, which contained rice, canned sardines, and noodles, that they received are already expired.
She said in the vernacular they were happy to receive the assistance for drivers, only to find out later that they could not eat the food.
Transport leader Diego Malacad also expressed dismay after some of the drivers received expired food packs.
Malacad, secretary-general of the United Negros Drivers Operators Center, said the noodles and pancit canton are expired, and the rice had a bad smell.
Pacita Tero, head of the Department of Social Services and Development, in a video statement released by the Public Information Office last night, apologized to the residents for the expired food packs, adding that it was not intentional.
“We want to respond right away, with the intention of helping. Not knowing (it was already expired), because we did not look at the content of the food packages,” she said.
She said the rice came from the National Food Authority, and it was newly-milled.
Tero added the same batch of rice assistance was given to the other localities in Western Visayas, including Negros Occidental.
She said that it is better to raise the issue to the barangay so necessary steps will be taken to address the concerns.*
