Aquino says sorry to student for lapses in ‘Yolanda’ response

President Benigno Aquino III AP FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines – President Benigno Aquino III apologized to a student on Thursday for the government’s failure to immediately bring relief goods to typhoon survivors in Tacloban City.

During an open forum at the Hope Christian High School, a student, who transferred from Tacloban City, asked Aquino, “Where I live, we did not receive any government or help from the government – no relief, no medical care, nothing. It took three days before the help came. So why did it take a long time before the government help the people of Tacloban during the Typhoon Yolanda?”

In the transcript provided to media, Aquino explained why the relief goods took time to reach them.

At one point, the President said, “I apologize if we couldn’t act even faster.”

“Our people were there beforehand. We made mistakes in terms of ‘yung being able to call on the indigenous government entities on the onset but we cleared the runway,” Aquino added.

He said the national government had problem relying on local authorities, and at the same time, the magnitude of the disaster and the “sheer mass of people that had to be attended to” made the operations more difficult.

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