Aquino got wrong info on Bohol aid squabble

President Noy has again shown utmost concern for people who are in trouble by sleeping among the earthquake victims in Bohol province, like he did in Zamboanga during the siege of the city in eastern Mindanao.

The President and some of his Cabinet members slept in a tent in Moto Sur village in Loon, one of the most devastated towns after the earthquake in Bohol.

His predecessors had visited calamity victims in their watch, but never slept in their midst.

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P-Noy, however, should stand corrected in saying that NGOs (nongovernment organizations) giving relief to the victims, like the Philippine Red Cross, should coordinate with local officials.

He was defending the actions of Maribojoc Mayor Leoncio Evasco who drove away Red Cross volunteers in his town for refusing to turn over relief items to the municipal government.

According to P-Noy, reports he had received said Evasco didn’t drive away the volunteers but merely asked them to coordinate their relief efforts with the local government.

The President got his information wrong: Red Cross volunteers did coordinate with Evasco before distributing the relief to his town mates.

In fact, Evasco made the Red Cross use vehicles of the municipal government in transporting the goods to makeshift distribution centers.

The mayor wanted the Red Cross relief stocks turned over to him so he could distribute these to his constituents himself, but he was rebuffed.

Evasco’s argument was that as the town’s chief executive he knew who needed aid among his constituents, while the Red Cross didn’t.

He was questioning the efficiency of the Red Cross in the distribution of relief to calamity victims which it has been doing for the past 65 years.

Methinks the real reason the mayor wanted to get hold of the Red Cross relief was political.

He wanted the relief farmed out to his barangay captains, who in turn, would distribute the goods so they would win in Monday’s barangay elections.

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Why should NGOs, like the Red Cross, turn over to local officials relief intended for calamity victims when they know that some of these officials could play favorites in the distribution?

Worse, the relief might even end up in the homes of these politicians so they could be repacked with markings such as “Donated by Mayor Armando Rukot.”

Many politicians shamelessly place their names on billboards announcing projects in their areas which are being undertaken using taxpayers’ money.

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Canadian Edward Ayre, also known as Calvin Wilson, who was featured in this column Thursday for being a fugitive from justice in the US, has taken roots in the Philippines.

Ayre—or Wilson—has allegedly set up online gaming operations for the European and Asian markets through Bodog88.

My sources say the man has millions of dollars stashed in two prominent banking institutions in the country.

The elusive Canadian is wanted in the US reportedly for money laundering.