CEBU (Mindanao Examiner / Jan. 8, 2014) – A teachers’ group has accused President Benigno Aquino of not doing enough to address the dire situation in areas devastated by super typhoon Haiyan.
Government relief and rehabilitation efforts is still at its slowest pace, according to the Alliance of Concerned Teachers’ which criticized Aquino for his alleged failure to put normalcy in central Philippines, particularly in Leyte province.
More than 6,000 people had died from the typhoon that hit the region in November.
“Two months have passed and until now the Aquino regime is moving like there is no urgency at all as manifested with the fact that thousands of those who died are still unburied and slow construction of bunkhouses which will serve as the temporary shelter for the victims. We are dismayed that these bunkhouses were sub-standard and shrouded with issues like over-pricing and kickbacks,” France Castro, Alliance of Concerned Teachers’ Secretary-General, said in a statement sent to the regional newspaper Mindanao Examiner.
“Aside from these, we would like also to reiterate our call for Department of Education Secretary Armin Luistro and President Aquino to give the necessary assistance for out public school teachers. Teachers were asked and even required to go back to their work and perform their duties, but we would like to remind Luistro and Aquino that our teachers were also victims of the calamity.”
Castro said the immediate needs of the teachers by the calamity should be taken into consideration.
“How can they do their work properly if they themselves don’t have anything to start their lives again? We call on the government to immediately release cash assistance for the teachers, condone their loan obligations with the Government Service Insurance System and provide an interest-free calamity and emergency program for the teachers and even for all affected government employees,” Castro said.
Castro said this is not even enough viz-a-viz the absence of salary increase for the teachers and government employees and with the sky-rocketing price hikes of the basic commodities.
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