After deadly typhoon, relief efforts remain slow in Visayas

President Benigno Aquino inspects the condition of victims of typhoon Haiyan at an evacuation center and other areas in Tacloban City in Leyte province. (Photo by Ryan Lim)

MANILA (Mindanao Examiner / Nov. 13, 2013) – A Filipino teacher’s group has strongly criticized the Aquino government for failing to immediately address relief operations to tens of thousands of families left homeless by the devastated of monster typhoon Haiyan in central Philippines.

The Alliance of Concerned Teachers or ACT said barely a week after the typhoon struck the region, relief aid and assistance from the Aquino government is yet to be received by the survivors.

“It is appalling to know that the national government under President Benigno Aquino seems to be inutile in responding to the disaster faced by our brothers and sisters, especially in the Visayas. Nasaan na ang ipinangalandakan ni PNoy na handa ang gobyerno sa pagharap sa kalamidad?” asked France Castro, ACT’s Secretary-General.

On November 7, Aquino said during a television broadcast that “fully mission capable po ang tatlo nating C-130 (Philippine Air Force Hercules cargo plane) upang rumesponde sa nangangailangan. Naka-stand by na rin po ang 32 na eroplano at helicopter ng ating Air Force. Naka-posisyon na po ang 20 barko mula sa ating Philippine Navy sa Cebu, Bicol, Cavite, at Zamboanga. Ang mga relief goods ay naka-preposition na rin sa karamihan ng mga apektado o maaaring maapektuhang lalawigan; sa mga hindi pa po naaabot dahil pinagbawalan nang pumalaot ang mga barko dahil sa peligro, umasa po kayong darating agad ang tulong paghupa ng bagyo.”

But Castro said relief services were not delivered by the national government.

“Victims are still struggling to survive each day. They don’t even have safe water to drink. The government now must use all its resources to reach the survivors in the fastest way possible. We are saddened with the recent of turn of events wherein the president even prioritized transporting military personnel (foreign and local) to the affected areas rather than food, water and medicines which are very needed by the survivors,” she said.

Over the past few days, she said Aquino has sent to central Philippines police and military forces from other areas to augment the security personnel to restore peace and order after hungry typhoon victims forcibly opened and looted department stores and groceries, and warehouses in order for them to survive.

“Peace and order situation in the area can only be restored if the essential needs of the survivors such as food, water and medicines are attended to by the government. Gutom an mega tao at kailangan at ginagawa nila ang lahat upang sila at ang kanilang mga mahal sa buhay ay maalpasan ang gutom na ito. We are afraid that if this situation persists, people who successfully survived the wrath of typhoon Haiyan may die also out of hunger and disease,” Castro said.

Saving face

The youth group Anakbayan also expressed frustration and extreme disappointment over the government’s snail-paced relief efforts, saying Aquino seems to be more concerned with saving face than saving lives.

“We are disappointed and outraged by the fact that President Aquino seems more concerned with downplaying the number of dead and politicking. What is important now is that we ensure that no more Yolanda victims succumb to hunger, thirst, exposure, and disease. We call on the government to act swiftly and immediately deliver relief goods to our kababayans,” Vencer Crisostomo, national chairperson of Anakbayan, said.

Media reports said as many as 10,000 people may have died and missing from the typhoon, but Aquino, citing government records claimed the death toll would be around 2,500.

“There is no excuse for what is happening right now. Now is not the time for inaction, opportunism, corruption, dirty politics and victim-blaming. The national government is the one with the resources and manpower to address the needs of typhoon victims. The natural disaster is compounded by a man-made disaster – the incompetent and anti-people Aquino administration,” Crisostomo said.

Anakbayan has held mass candle-lightings, prayer vigils, and other assemblies across the country to urge the public to continue various efforts to provide relief to victims of typhoon Haiyan, particularly in Tacloban City, one of the worst hit areas in the central region.

Death toll lower

Aquino was also interviewed by CNN’s Christiane Amanpour where he enumerated the government’s relief efforts in areas devastated by the typhoon.

“When asked about his government’s reaction to the crisis, President Aquino told Amanpour he feels the immediate response has been reassuring to the vast majority of people but that two or three local governments were simply overwhelmed by the severity of the typhoon that hit the islands. For example, in Tacloban, only 20 of 290 police were available when disaster struck; many were tending to their own families, he said.”

“There was emotional trauma involved with that particular estimate quoting both the police official and local government,” he said, adding that “they did not have a basis for it. He did however acknowledge that the number might still get higher,” the CNN report said.

The Philippines News Agency also quoted Aquino as telling Amanpour “we have been able to demonstrate as a government and as a people, collectively, that we take care of each other and the government’s immediate response, I think, has been reassuring to the vast majority of our people.”

Aquino said the catastrophic death toll estimates was pegged at 10,000 in the worst-hit areas in Tacloban alone, is too much and added that local officials, suffering from emotional trauma may have made wrong assessments of the actual death figure. “They were too close to the incident. They didn’t have basis for it,” he said.

“But so far, 2,000 to about 2,500 is the figure we are working on as far as deaths are concerned,” Aquino said.

Aquino and his Cabinet members inspected the areas hit by the typhoon and led relief operations there and at the same time assured victims of government rehabilitation efforts.

Misery and desperation

CNN anchor Anderson Cooper, who was in Tacloban covering the disaster, described the situation in the area as “miserable and desperate.”

Below is some part of his report on Jake Tapper’s program “The Lead”.

“It’s a miserable situation here and it does not seems to be getting better day by day and we are now on the 5th day since the storm hit here Tacloban. Just, we are here at the airport now, what’s left on the airport there are hundreds of people here sitting all night just, they have nowhere else to go and three blocks from that direction you’ll find people sleeping in makeshift huts basically you’re sleeping out in the exposed rains close to bodies of their loved ones which nobody has picked up because there’s nobody here to pick them up.”

“You will expect perhaps to see maybe a feeding center that have been set up about five days after the storm, we have not seen that certainly not in this area. Some food are being brought to people here at the airport, some water being distributed but it is very, very difficult condition for people here on the ground. It’s not clear how much longer it can continue like this, something has gotta give, there is hope that the airport will at some point will be opened by the US marines to operate on a 24 hour basis, that has not happened yet. There’s a lot of talk about that yesterday that has not occurred and we have been here all night and no flights were coming in once night came. It is a very desperate situation among the most desperate I have seen in covering disasters over the last couple of years.”(Mindanao Examiner. With reports from CNN and PNA)