‘Politicking’ in relief distribution slammed

CRY FOR HELP A resident of Barangay Basak in Guihulngan City cries out for food and drinking water after an earthquake damaged the community’s water source of water. TONEE DESPOJO/CEBU DAILY NEWS

GUIHULNGAN CITY, Negros Oriental—The parish priest of a Negros Oriental town ravaged by earthquake and landslides has deplored politicking in the distribution of assistance to victims.

Fr. Felipe Luis Ferolina of the San Sebastian parish in La Libertad town also lambasted those who took advantage of the disaster for personal gain.

He cited business owners who significantly increased the prices of their products after the calamity stuck.

“This is an emergency. Instead of taking advantage, we must be united in helping and sharing what we have,” Ferolina told the Inquirer.

La Libertad, along with Guihulngan City, was the worst hit in the 6.9-magnitude earthquake and landslides that struck Central Visayas on February 6.

The death toll in the disaster was 41 as of 2 p.m. Sunday. Fifty-six residents remained missing—18 in Barangay (village) Planas in Guihulngan and 38 in Barangay Solonggon in La Libertad.

Ferolina said “politics came into play” in the distribution of food packs citing those with stickers with the name of politicians. The practice came to the priest’s attention from accounts of evacuees and other victims.

But he clarified that the stickers were not of officials of La Libertad.

Negros Oriental Governor Roel Degamo has come under fire after food packs distributed to victims had stickers that read: “DSWD Magdegamo Rescue.”

Degamo has explained that the markings in the food packs were meant to inform the public that the provincial government was doing its job.

Delays

Some victims in Guihulngan City complained of the delay in the delivery of food assistance and the concentration of distribution of the goods in the house of Mayor Ernesto Reyes in the city proper.

One victim of a village spoke to the Inquirer on condition of anonymity that relief assistance arrived in their barangay Friday evening or four days after the earthquake struck.

“We learned that the relief goods were already at the mayor’s house but it didn’t reach us until Friday,” the victim said.

Reyes denied that he was controlling the distribution of relief assistance.

“Anyone or any group can distribute their assistance to the victims. You can confirm that with media organizations and other donor groups,” Reyes told the Inquirer.

He said the assistance was channeled to barangay officials and since Thursday, these have also been given directly to the victims.

“There are some people who are spreading wrong information including those that I have received cash when in fact these were bottled water and rice. They just want to ruin me,” Reyes said.

He, however, declined to identify them.

The Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) urged local officials not to politicize the distribution of relief goods after receiving complaints from residents about the delay.

“Spare the victims of the earthquake from politics, prioritize the people,” said Christian Tuayon, secretary general of Bayan in Negros.

He called on government agencies and the private sector to deliver the aid directly to the people so relief goods wouldn’t go through politicians.

Landslide

On Saturday night, around 200 evacuees in Barangay Tinayunan Beach in Guihulngan were again evacuated in military trucks after the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) issued a landslide alert in the village.

MGB team leader Abraham Lucero Jr., said in a letter to Tinayunan Beach village chief Monica Aranas that the landslide susceptibility rating in the area was “high.”—With a report from Carla P. Gomez, Inquirer Visayas