Palace says it was busy ridding graft when climate experts gave warnings

MANILA, Philippines—The Aquino administration was up to its neck in weeding out corruption in the government agencies early during its watch when the Climate Change Congress of the Philippines warned officials about Cagayan de Oro and nearby areas being vulnerable to massive flooding.

Secretary Edwin Lacierda, President Aquino’s spokesman, made the admission following the CCCP’s statement saying that it had warned government officials about the hazards posed by the changing climate in northern Mindanao but was largely ignored.

“It was early on in the administration and, as you know, we were really trying to do a lot of efforts at that time. We were doing a lot of clearing of the ‘landmines,’” Lacierda said in a news briefing in Malacañang Tuesday.

“The situation right now has made it emphatic for us … as well as for the local government units, to seriously look into the hazard areas in their respective [areas] and it’s something that we, the national government, and the local governments … should work at,” Lacierda added.