Aquino tells unidentified gov’t execs to deliver or resign

By: Michael Lim Ubac - 11 years ago

President Benigno Aquino III INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—Expect heads to roll in the coming days as the President’s patience is wearing thin over the seemingly disjointed efforts, particularly at the local level, to help victims of disasters since December 2012.

President Benigno Aquino III appealed Tuesday for more patience from disaster victims amid the overwhelming challenges confronting his administration in the aftermath of back-to-back calamities that overshadowed the sterling economic growth under his watch.

“Now, let me say this again, the problem is enormous—more than half of our provinces were affected—and I think the government demonstrated that we may not have been perfect, and I’ll admit that, but to say that we didn’t exercise a maximum effort, that’s a bit of a stretch,” he told reporters in Cebu City.

He noted that Supertyphoon Yolanda alone, the strongest storm to ever hit land, affected 44 of the Philippines’ 81 provinces, leaving the government with the herculean task of taking care of 16 million Filipinos.

But the President could not hide his exasperation over the pace of rehabilitation efforts in some areas.

When reporters chanced upon him in Cebu City, where he presided over the country’s celebration of the 28th anniversary of Edsa People Power Revolution, a peeved Aquino demanded that power be fully restored in Davao Oriental, which bore the brunt of Typhoon Pablo in December 2012.

On Monday, Mr. Aquino had a town hall meeting in Cateel, Davao Oriental, to touch base with victims of Pablo and check on the resettlement site constructed by the government.

The provincial governor, Corazon Malanyaon, complained to the Chief Executive in a speech that electricity in 24 barangays, or 57 percent of the province, had yet to be restored, more than a year since Pablo barreled through Compostela Valley, Davao Oriental, Agusan del Sur and Surigao del Sur.

In a clear warning to some officials he did not identify by name, Mr. Aquino gave them until next week to comply.

“We have work to do; do your job or (you’ll be) sorry,” he said in the interview, a transcript of which the Malacañang press office released to reporters.

Mr. Aquino admitted to the media that he was surprised that power had not been restored in Davao Oriental.

“I am now asking all the concerned departments—why one year, over a year later” and still no power in many places.

“There’s finger-pointing, blame-tossing around as to who should be responsible,” he noted. “Now, I let the concerned agencies feel that I’m not happy with them: “When would electricity be made widely available, or when would you submit your resignation?”

From Cateel, the President proceeded on the same day to inspect bunkhouses and a memorial hospital in Loon, Bohol, where a 7.2-magnitude earthquake struck on Sept. 15, 2013.

The following day, Tuesday, he presided over the anniversary celebration at the Cebu provincial capitol of People Power Revolution that propelled his mother to the presidency in 1986.

He flew afterward to Bantayan Island, where he distributed 100 boats to fishermen.

He had three more stops on his two-day tour of devastated areas, his way of commemorating the bloodless People Power Revolution that ended the Marcos dictatorship.

In the afternoon of Tuesday, Mr. Aquino inspected the site of a permanent relocation site for typhoon victims and presided over the groundbreaking of the rehabilitation of Tanauan public plaza in Tanauan, Leyte.

From there, he flew to Guiuan, Eastern Samar, and inspected the town’s integrated transport terminal complex; and finally, to Tacloban City for the groundbreaking of the new Eastern Visayas Medical Regional Center.

In Cebu City, the President blew his top when a reporter of a local paper mustered the courage to ask about the apparently inadequate support for typhoon victims and the snail-paced rehabilitation efforts in Northern Cebu.

The reporter told of a growing restiveness among typhoon victims who felt neglected by the national government three months after Yolanda hit Northern Cebu.

This did not sit well with Mr. Aquino, who responded: “To say that no (relief goods) came seemed absurd. We’re going to Bantayan (Island) now. Perhaps, I wouldn’t be going to Bantayan if the people are mad at me, isn’t that so?”

He said the reporter could just get all the data of government’s relief efforts from Social Welfare Secretary Dinky Soliman, but later decided to talk lengthily on what his administration has done, thus far, to help the victims get back on their feet.

Questioning the veracity of the reporter’s assertion, he said, “Well, I hope you have details (on the particular) place, so that I can answer directly.”

“And, if you want to, you can come with us to Bantayan. We’ll see if they hate us,” he added.

To begin with, he said, Yolanda affected some “three million plus families,” or “16 million people.”

He asked if “someone could still surpass what we have done” to “physically (help) 44 of our 81 provinces” in a country visited by at least 20 typhoons yearly.

Mr. Aquino disclosed that in Bantayan alone, the government was on track to build 253 classrooms, (costing P133 million); three rural health units (P17 million); 28 multi-purpose barangay halls (37 million); and one public market (P5 million), for a total of 191million.

The President said the “funds are ready” but the government was still in the process of verifying the proposals submitted by local government units (LGUs).

“We have prepared a program to help rebuild municipal (halls) aside from other infrastructures such as (public) markets. Of course, (rebuilding) roads, bridges and restoration of electricity (is automatic),” he said.

He explained that requests for repair and or construction of new gymnasium, evacuation center or basketball court should follow the concept of “build-back-better.”

Mr. Aquino then appealed to the media to “highlight” positive developments, noting that some stories about the pace of reconstruction efforts were not accurate.

He said feeding 280,000 families in Eastern Visayas alone was “no joke,” noting that “every two days, 140,000 food packs” were being produced.