Aquino: No storm surprises, please

MANILA, Philippines—President Benigno Aquino III had been in office for only a few weeks when Typhoon “Basyang” swerved and pummeled Metro Manila and its environs, killing more than 100 people. He sacked the chief of the Pagasa weather bureau for not issuing a timely warning.

On Thursday, before leaving for Bangkok on a state visit, the President made it clear to his Cabinet that he no longer wanted surprises from typhoons. Or, he would deal some officials a surprise of his own when he comes back today.

“I expect that I won’t be surprised with bad news while in Thailand, or else you’ll be the one surprised when I get back,” he told Cabinet officials before boarding a Philippine Airlines flight to Bangkok.

In many of his previous public appearances, Mr. Aquino would break into a smile when making a speech. On Thursday, when he spoke about his allergy to surprises, he gave no hint of a smile, suggesting he meant business.

Mr. Aquino left about the same time that Typhoon “Chedeng” was swirling toward the northeastern coast of the Philippines with maximum center winds of 170 kilometers per hour.

Later on Thursday, Pagasa said Chedeng had moved slightly away from its predicted path.

Preparing for Chedeng

The President’s spokesperson, Edwin Lacierda, would not hazard a comment on what Mr. Aquino meant with his remarks.

“I don’t know the context of that,” Lacierda told reporters, saying he didn’t quite catch that part of the President’s departure speech.

Among the Cabinet officials who saw Mr. Aquino off were Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin, who supervises the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, and Social Welfare Secretary Corazon Soliman, who is in charge of relief operations.

Hourly forecast

Mr. Aquino is scheduled to return to Manila Friday. On June 1, he will leave for another state visit, this time in Brunei.

“We have an on the hour by the hour forecast so it appears that the storm swerved a little so it’s good for us because the areas that were to be hit would no longer be affected. We are hoping that the storm wouldn’t become stronger,” Lacierda said.

“It’s better for us that the storm veered a little. Hopefully, we’d no longer be hit,” he added.

Basyang battered Metro Manila on July 13 last year while Mr. Aquino was hosting a getting-to-know-you dinner at Malacañang for members of the media covering him.

The day after the dinner, he took Pagasa officials to task for their failure to notify the public that Basyang had changed course and would strike the metropolis. Pagasa previously said the typhoon would hit Aurora province.

Three weeks later, Mr. Aquino sacked Prisco Nilo as Pagasa administrator.