Lacson urges Romualdez to stop complaining over ‘Yolanda’ rehab

Rehabilitation czar Panfilo “Ping” Lacson. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

BOGO CITY, Cebu, Philippines — The Office of the Presidential Assistant for Recovery and Rehabilitation (OPARR) is urging the Tacloban City government to cooperate instead of complaining that the national government has been neglecting them.

OPARR Secretary Panfilo Lacson was reacting to the statements of Tacloban City Mayor Alfred Romualdez and his cousin, Sen. Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., that the city didn’t receive any help from the national government.

“Hindi totoo yung sinasabi ng mga Romualdez na left-out yung Tacloban (The claim of the Romualdezes that Tacloban was left out is not true),” he told reporters here on Sunday.

Lacson said the national government has extended its “hands of cooperation” to Romualdez ever since.

Yet, he added, there has been “so much bellyaching” in Tacloban.

“I’ve been all over the place since three days ago. I didn’t see any rally. I didn’t see any protests. I’ve been to Marabut, Samar, Guiuan, Tanauan, maraming areas (many areas). It’s only in Tacloban where we were met with those who were in the rally. It’s only in Tacloban where we hear bellyaching. So much bellyaching. So much complaints,” he added.

Lacson said he urged Mayor Romualdez to cooperate instead.

“Our message to Mayor Romualdez is let’s help each other. This is not about politics. This is about survivors suffering from the effects of typhoon Yolanda,” Lacson said.

“There’s an old saying you cannot fight city hall, much less Malacañang because if you need something, you need to ask the national government or ask from the national government,” he added.

Lacson, who was in Tacloban City on Saturday during the first anniversary of the strongest typhoon to hit land, said that the city would receive 12,500 permanent housing units by April 2015 from the National Housing Authority (NHA).

The NHA needs to build 14,433 permanent housing units Tacloban City.

“Let’s look beyond Tacloban. (At least) 1.47 million families ito and Tacloban is dun sa 205,000 ay 14,000 mauuna pa nga. (At least 1.47 million families need housing in the Visayas and Tacloban needs 205,000, out of which 14,000 units will be delivered first.) I’m tired of arguing but we need to tell the people what is happening and we should tell the people the overall picture. Tacloban is just a minor part of the whole corridor,” Lacson said.

Meanwhile, Lacson disclosed that OPARR sent a team to conduct a census on Kinatarkan Island, an island barangay (village) off Bantayan Island after receiving reports that there were families there who had not received any housing assistance.

He said that after the census, they would help look for private donors to help the island barangay for their housing needs.

Lacson was in Cebu on Sunday to join the turnover of 200 permanent houses in Bogo City put up by SM Cares.

This is intended for 200 families in Barangay Polambato, which were identified by the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc. to be living in danger zones or in coastal areas that are vulnerable to storm surges.

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