Why Aquino didn’t visit flood victims sooner

7-HOUR VISIT President Aquino climbs into a military truck to inspect flooded areas along MacArthur Highway in Corazon village, Calumpit, Bulacan, on Wednesday. EDWIN BACASMAS

MALOLOS, Bulacan—Nine days after the onslaught of  Typhoons “Pedring” and “Quiel,”  President Benigno Aquino III on Wednesday finally saw for himself flood-devastated areas in three provinces.

The President expressed satisfaction at the government’s response to the disaster and slammed those making “an industry out of criticizing” him, referring to opposition statements that his absence during the crisis showed his “insensitivity and indifference.”

“For me, my conscience is clear. I am happy with the way my government performed, there is just an industry of critics against me,” Mr. Aquino told reporters at the end of his seven-hour visits to Tarlac, Pampanga and Bulacan.

“With us, the relief was already waiting to be dispatched even before the typhoons in the country—you are all witness to that,” Mr. Aquino said.

He said that if a President is seen issuing instructions to government agencies during the height of disasters, “this could only mean the government is not prepared.’’

“If government agencies need to do some things and they have done it already, what instructions do you still have to give? Why should you give instructions when everything is prepared?” he said.

Better results than Ondoy

“I think we had better results today compared to that of ‘Ondoy,’’’ he said, an apparent dig at the Arroyo administration’s handling of the storm that inundated large parts of the capital in 2009 and left nearly 500 people dead.

Last week’s back-to-back typhoons left at least 76 dead and caused damage to agriculture and infrastructure estimated at P9.5 billion across Luzon, according to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC).

Mr. Aquino’s seven-hour trip included stops at La Paz, Tarlac, the villages of San Felipe and San Fernando in Pampanga, and Calumpit and Malolos in Bulacan. He inspected a bridge, health facilities and evacuation centers.

Relief goods prepared

In an interview with reporters after a briefing of the Regional Development Council of Central Luzon at Hiyas Convention Center in Malolos, the President snapped at a question about his absence at the disaster zone last week and his quick swing this time.

He said it was difficult to be transformed to a manananggal—a mythical witch—with a half body present here and another half not there to please critics.

The President said that his administration’s response to last week’s disaster was swift, unlike during the time of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo when a relief caravan was bogged down in the Bicol region for two weeks.

Mr. Aquino said that unlike before, the Department of Social Welfare and Development did not have to look for donations of relief goods during the height of Pedring and Quiel.

Mixed reviews

Mr. Aquino’s visit to the provinces, though, got mixed reviews.

Learning that the President was dropping by at the vicinity of Malolos Municipal Hall, which was flooded waist-deep, 42-year-old Wilma Magallon was elated, hoping “he could see the pitiful situation here in Calumpit.’’

But 50-year-old evacuee Marian Aguilar  was dismayed by the very brief stop Mr. Aquino made at an evacuation center inside the compound of United Pulp and Paper Corp. here.

“We would like to thank him for the effort and for the visit but we still want to take up many issues with him. But it seems he does not have time for us,” Aguilar said.

Miguel Salvador, 38, said he did not mind if the President visited or not. “He cannot help all the people,” he said, adding he hoped Mr. Aquino would distribute relief goods. With a report from Dona Z. Pazzibugan