Lacson to quit as rehab czar in February 2015

Rehabilitation czar Panfilo Lacson. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—Panfilo Lacson, head of the Office of the Presidential Assistant for Rehabilitation and Recovery (OPARR), on Sunday said he will resign as “rehabilitation czar” of the Aquino administration come February 2015.

In a radio interview, Lacson said he will be quitting his Cabinet-level post because he thinks that his office has already fulfilled its job of implementing reconstruction efforts in areas hit by Supertyphoon “Yolanda” (international name: Haiyan).

Lacson said that he has already filed his irrevocable resignation which will take effect on February 10 or mid-February next year.

“I’ve asked the President for a one-month transition period to lay out the mechanics of the transition from OPARR to a more permanent body, which is the NDRRMC. [The transition] will commence on the first working day of January,” Lacson said in a radio interview over DZBB.

“In my irrevocable resignation, I will be gone by middle of February. Slowly, I should fade away from the scene,” Lacson said.

On Thursday, Lacson said in a statement that he wants the functions of his office to be transferred to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC).

“It dawned on me that a permanent agency should be equipped to handle all functions related to preparedness, recovery and rehabilitation since we are a typhoon-prone country,” Lacson explained.

Lacson was appointed as “rehabilitation czar” in December 2013 to facilitate reconstruction efforts in areas lashed by Yolanda. Last October, President Benigno Aquino III approved the P170.9-billion Yolanda master plan crafted by OPARR.

RELATED STORIES
Lacson bats for permanent agency to handle reconstruction in calamity areas

Lacson defends ‘snail-paced’ Yolanda rehabilitation