This aerial photo taken on November 17, 2013, shows the devastation caused by Super Typhoon Yolanda near the coastal town of Tanauan, Leyte. AP FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines – Lawmakers from the independent bloc urged the government to leave the rehabilitation efforts to local government in a bid to speed up the recovery from Super Typhoon “Yolanda.”
Leyte Representative Ferdinand Martin Romualdez said the local government should lead the reconstruction efforts.
“You need to empower the local governments…. I-download na lang (ang funds) sa local at sila na lang ang bahalang mag-implement,” Romualdez, cousin of Tacloban City Mayor Alfred Romualdez, said during the independent bloc’s briefing on Monday.
(The funds should be downloaded to the local government who should implement the projects.)
The lawmaker made the statement amid a disagreement between his cousin Mayor Romualdez and Interior Secretary Manuel Roxas II over clan politics in amid of rescue operations.
In the aftermath of Yolanda, Roxas supposedly asked Mayor Romualdez to surrender his authority to the Department of the Interior and Local Government, especially as the city’s local government was incapacitated.
Roxas also supposedly brought up clan politics. Romualdez is a member of the Marcos family, the political rival of the Aquinos. Roxas is a stalwart of the Liberal Party, chaired by President Benigno Aquino III.
“Parang naka-clog ang resources sa itaas. Masyadong hinahawakan ng line agencies, lalong bumabagal,” the solon Romualdez said.
(The resources are clogged because it is held by line agencies. It becomes too slow.)
Buhay partylist Rep. Lito Atienza agreed with the lawmaker, saying that the “national leadership must start trusting the local government.”
“We have to learn how to exercise local autonomy not from Manila…” Romualdez said.
Yolanda, the world’s strongest typhoon to hit land, ravaged Central Philippines and claimed over 6,000 lives.
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