Malacañang ready for Unicef’s ‘Yolanda’ challenge
INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines—Super Typhoon “Yolanda” may be over, but Malacañang is still geared-up for its lengthy aftermath.
After the United Nation Children’s Fund reported of future problems that may spring up from the onslaught, Presidential Spokesman Edwin Lacierda said that the Palace has already tasked the respective government agencies to address “Yolanda’s” future wave of problems.
Lacierda said that the Department of Health and the Department of Social Welfare and Development are already on the frontline to face the problems that Unicef presented in its report, an assessment of Eastern Visayas four months after “Yolanda.”
“I think the DOH, with respect to the growing…they will always fear that, but so far it has not—nothing has happened yet on the epidemic,” Lacierda said in a media briefing Monday. “Certainly DOH is on top of that.”
Lacierda’s statement’s came after Unicef said in its report that children are still exposed to diseases and other forms of violence four months after “Yolanda.”
Apart from diseases, Lacierda also noted Unicef’s assessment of the schools’ capacities in the region where some were damaged and others simply obliterated.
“I spoke to Secretary Armin Luistro…about the construction of schools,” Lacierda said.
He added that schools are “being provided” and that education “continues to be provided” for the students.
In terms of the children’s welfare, Lacierda said that the DSWD “is on top of the situation.”
He added that the DSWD would have to take care of orphaned children and to provide care for the people.
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