Aquino to visit typhoon-hit areas Wednesday, says Malacañang

President Benigno Aquino III. INQUIRER photo

President Benigno Aquino III will visit typhoon-affected areas in Bulacan, Pampanga and Tarlac on Wednesday, his spokesperson Edwin Lacierda said Tuesday.

Lacierda made the announcement in the course of again defending Mr. Aquino from criticism for failing to show up in the affected provinces at the height of the disaster.

“The President is going to visit Bulacan, Pampanga and Tarlac. Well, [he] would like to see for himself the effects of the typhoon, both [in terms of] infrastructure and also the affected communities,” Lacierda said at a news briefing.

He said Mr. Aquino would be briefed by the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Councils and “meet some local officials and local communities.”

But the distribution of relief assistance is already ongoing, even before the President’s visit, Lacierda said.

“Do you know how much of the local government resources would be diverted if the President comes, instead of focusing on the affected communities?” he said.

Lacierda said the government agencies involved in the rescue operations were present in the affected areas at the height of the typhoons.

“We don’t have to wait for the President to visit, just the entire bureaucracy to be moving,” he said.

And now that the typhoons have passed, Mr. Aquino wants to see the situation in the affected communities, he added.

Water czar

Lacierda also said the President had appointed Public Works Secretary Rogelio Singson as the “water czar,” and directed him to study the effects on low-lying communities of the release of dam water in anticipation of weather disturbances.

“[With] several departments [and] agencies having jurisdiction over water, the President deems it necessary to appoint a water czar to look into all concerns regarding water,” Lacierda said.

He said the water czar’s concerns involved not only calamities but also “providing water to communities that don’t have water.”

Singson was appointed water czar more than a month ago, according to Lacierda.

“It’s primarily because of the concern of the President to provide potable water supply to communities,” he said.