Robredo on Roxas’ Yolanda performance: He did everything he could

FORMER Interior Secretary Mar Roxas did everything he could during Super Typhoon Yolanda but so much more needs to be done.

This was what his vice presidential running mate and Camarines Sur Rep.  Leni Robredo said on his efforts in the aftermath of the strongest cyclone to hit the Philippines in 2013.

“Wala in possession ko yung lahat ng facts. Ang alam ko yung nabasa ko lang. Maraming pagkukulang nung Yolanda, maraming dapat na ginawa,” Robredo said at a vice presidential forum held at University of the Philippines Diliman.

Roxas was then the Interior Secretary when the typhoon hit Eastern Visayas. The administration was criticized for its alleged slow emergency response in the aftermath of the typhoon, which killed thousands and displaced millions.

Hardest hit then was Tacloban City in Leyte.

Although she admitted that the government had shortcomings, Robredo defended Roxas.

“Kahit sinong andun, sinabak yung sarili para sa napakahirap na trabaho. Kahit anong gawin hindi talaga magiging perpekto,” she said.

“Gusto ko maniwala na ginawa lahat pero hindi magiging perpekto,” she added.

Robredo said her province in Naga is frequently battered by typhoons.

“Parati kaming biktima ng bagyo. Alam namin ang kahirapan na pinaghihirapan ng lahat,” she said.

She said that Naga and Albay went through a lot of lessons before they became models in disaster risk reduction and management,

“Maraming aral na pinagdaanan bago narito, ganun din siguro sa Tacloban,” she said.