TWO years after Super Typhoon Yolanda (international name: Haiyan) pummeled the Visayas, what does Philippine Red Cross Chairman and former senator Richard “Dick” Gordon has to say about the government’s rehabilitation efforts?
In a press conference on Thursday, Gordon said he would not comment on the government’s disaster response and relief actions because he himself wants “to be on the good side of government.”
READ: ‘Yolanda’ survivors still lament lack of permanent shelter, calls DSWD chief a liar
“I want to be on the good side of the government. We are partners, we are auxiliaries, and I am not going to comment on their effort,” Gordon told reporters.
Gordon, who ran for president in 2010 and for senator in 2013 but lost in both elections, is eyeing a return to the Senate in the 2016 polls.
READ: Dick Gordon: I would have loved to run for president, but… | Gordon wants Comelec to ban pol ads, push for public debates
Noting a partnership between the government and the Red Cross in responding to calamities, he said he was sure that there were officials “who are dedicated as well.”
Gordon said he particularly praised the performance of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) at the height of typhoon “Lando,” the strongest typhoon to hit the country so far this year.
“We are always ready. At the height of Lando I was in the NDRRMC. I praised him (NDRRMC chief Alexander Pama) well because he [did] a good job and he asked us (Red Cross) to do the rescue in Cabanatuan and in Nueva Ecija, and we did,” Gordon said.
“Without the government, I, we, wouldn’t know what we’re challenged with here,” he added.
READ: Typhoon ‘Lando’ cost P11B in loses to PH—gov’t report
The Philippine government has drawn flak for its supposedly slow and inefficient rehabilitation efforts in Yolanda-hit areas. People Surge, and alliance of Yolanda survivors, has lamented the lack of permanent shelters and the presence of “small and cramped” bunkhouses even two years after the disaster.
A United Nations representative also previously called the government’s response as inadequate, saying that the Philippines has not done enough in rebuilding typhoon-hit areas.
READ: PH ‘Yolanda’ rebuilding ‘inadequate,’ says UN
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