2 mayors defend Mar on ‘Yolanda’ rehab

TACLOBAN CITY—While the devastation of Supertyphoon “Yolanda” in Eastern Visayas has turned into a political issue targeting former Interior Secretary Mar Roxas, two municipal mayors from the region and the vice mayor of this city are praising the presidential candidate of the ruling Liberal Party (LP).

Mayor Pelagio Tecson Jr. of Tanauan in Leyte province and Mayor Christopher Sheen Gonzales of Guiuan in Eastern Samar province have expressed support for Roxas, at least in their localities in the May elections. They cited his assistance to their towns during the Nov. 8, 2013, onslaught of Yolanda (international name: Haiyan), the world’s strongest typhoon to hit  land.

 ‘No-win’ situation

Tacloban Vice Mayor Jerry Yaokasin said Roxas did his best during the relief operations to help survivors of Yolanda. Roxas, as the chief of the Department of the Interior and Local Government, had initiated Recovery Assistance for Yolanda (RAY) to help in the recovery of typhoon-struck areas.

Yaokasin pointed out that it was a “no-win” situation for Roxas due to the magnitude of the disaster.

Yolanda left 6,268 people dead, 28,689 injured and 1,061 missing, according to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council. It also destroyed or damaged 1,034,518 houses and displaced an estimated 4 million people.

Tacloban, considered Ground Zero of Yolanda, was worst hit. The typhoon killed 2,600 people in the city, displaced thousands of families, shut down businesses and cut off power supply and communication.

Tanauan, where 1,000 people were killed and some P400 million worth of property was damaged, received P429.14 million for the repair of its public market, civic center, town hall and barangay halls. It is 24 kilometers away from Tacloban.

Guiuan lost 103 people and suffered P375 million in damage. It received P233.88 million under RAY for the repair of its public market, municipal hall and barangay halls.

Yaokasin was one of the elected officials of Tacloban who were always present during the coordination meetings conducted daily by Roxas for two weeks after Yolanda. The meetings aimed to fast-track relief operations, security, bank operations, communications, rehabilitation, migration of survivors to Manila or Cebu, medical missions and coordination with the international humanitarian organizations.

 ‘Misinterpretation’

The national government also created Foreign Aid Transparency Hub (FAiTH).

“Whatever we say now will be prone to misinterpretations because it’s the campaign period,” Yaokasin said. “But I stand [by what I said] that Secretary Mar and the national government did their best and what it could during that catastrophe.”

Almost three years after the typhoon, Yaokasin said, the survivors, mostly staying in bunkhouses and in no-build-zones, have started transferring to Ridge View Park I and Diana Homes in Cabalawan village on Monday. Some 400 families transferred before Christmas last year.

Earlier, Northern Samar Rep. Raul Daza, regional chair of the LP, acknowledged that the Yolanda experience had affected the candidacy of Roxas at least in Eastern Visayas, which has a total voting population of more than 2.69 million.

‘First face’

“The first face of national government assistance was Mar Roxas. He was the only government official who was trying to make things happen … at the first hours after Yolanda,” Mayor Tecson said.

Both Tecson and Gonzales are running in this year’s elections.

Tecson was originally a member of the United Nationalist Alliance of Vice President Jejomar Binay but is now an LP member. Gonzales is a member of the Nacionalista Party. Reports from Joey S. Gabieta and Vicky Arnaiz, Inquirer Visayas