Aquino only listens to ‘voices in his head’—‘Yolanda’ survivors

By: Bong Lozada - 10 years ago

President Benigno Aquino III. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO/GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE

MANILA, Philippines – A group of survivors of Supertyphoon “Yolanda” hit President Benigno Aquino III for his alleged “incompetent” response a year after the tragedy.

“It is clear that PNoy (Aquino’s monicker) only listens to voices in his head and not to us ‘Yolanda’ survivors who are supposed to be his bosses,” Dr. Efleda Bautista, chairperson of People Surge, said in a statement Saturday.

“We have felt a year’s worth of the government’s vicious abandonment, corruption, deceit and repression, and have seen a year’s worth of news and studies that confirm this situation,” Bautista added.

People Surge was reacting to Aquino’s statement against his critics over the government’s response to help the survivors of the massive typhoon that killed more than 6,000 people during its onslaught on Nov. 8, 2013.

Aquino made a speech on Guiuan, Eastern Samar which centered on his counter message to his government’s critics.

“Despite our initiatives, I have a feeling that tomorrow, someone will still claim I ignored Tacloban. I leave it to you to find out who are saying this,” Aquino said during his visit to Guiuan Friday.

Aquino said he would leave it to the public if his critics were correct that he deliberately left out Tacloban, the ground zero of “Yolanda.”

“Your tantrums over legitimate criticism, your claim that you have done everything you can for Yolanda survivors when the government’s total aid output is easily outstripped by a single non-government organization,” Bautista said.

People Surge, alongside other “Yolanda” survivors under the Daluyong National Network of Disaster Survivors, called for the ouster of Aquino for his “continuing negligence a full year after ‘Yolanda.’”

Bautista said that the still fictional P40,000 comprehensive cash assistance to the survivors indicate Aquino’s neglect. “You deserve to be ousted.”

A year after the devastation of “Yolanda”, the government barely cracked the one percent mark of building the necessary housing for the survivors.

Around 250,000 families are still in need of permanent homes which the massive cyclone tore down.

Only 1422 households have been relocated to permanent shelters.