The international community has been very sympathetic towards the flood victims of typhoons Ondoy and Pepeng. Many countries were moved by the national government’s cry for help.

Donations, in cash and in goods, were hurriedly dispatched from many corners of the globe. It is indeed heartwarming to realize that neighboring countries and those far from us have felt the pain and agony of having lost loved ones and seeing destroyed properties.

But just as we feel greatly indebted to these compassionate countries, we are outraged at the recent discovery that tons and tons of donated goods from abroad are still sitting, with no signs of movement for weeks already, on the warehouse of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) in Manila.

Such inaction of the DSWD to immediately deploy the much-needed help to starving Filipinos has raised discomforting suspicion. What is taking DSWD so long to distribute the donations? Is the agency still looking for the highest bidder? Is the DSWD still sorting out which of these goods are profitable and which ones are disposable, or something that flood victims could still salvage?

Past calamities that hit the countries had left us bitter memories because government agencies had not been faithful in showing compassion to victims. The problem is not in the government itself but in the people who run it. Call it lack of conscience and mercy. Call it callousness and apathy. But what can we do but express our usual indignation?

It is in this kind of situation that we see why the country is sinking. People just want to save themselves and they want to save themselves at the cost of the suffering of others. And even if they are in better position than the rest of us, they still want to get more and more. And the most shameful thing about it is that they make a profit out of the misfortunes of their brothers and sisters.

Perhaps the President is not fully aware of the disgusting situation. But since she is the head of the state, she must ensure that all donations are properly distributed to those who need them. Pres. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo should not tolerate this inaction of the DSWD and other government agencies that are responsible for deploying help to our people. The least she could do is to sack the officials who are guilty of profiteering from the sufferings of the Filipino people.

If the donors would learn that their donations had been archived by various Philippine government offices for personal use (shame on them), it is very unlikely that we can get help from these countries again. Or, if they do help again, this could better be channeled through non-governmental groups who have been proven to be more honest than our government agencies.

Barbarism is not the right term for this condemnable actuation of our government offices, particularly the DSWD. But we are afraid the word is the perfect description for those who can hardly feel the bleeding tears of their suffering brethren. If there is a term better than barbarism, perhaps it is the word ‘diabolic.’

In a dog-eat-dog world, an iota of compassion can still be seen even in a rabid, starving dog. But some Philippine officials are worse than piranha and vultures.