The first few hours and days after a devastating natural calamity like a typhoon strikes an area are crucial. In the first few hours and days, the chances of saving people who have been injured or trapped by debris is higher. In the first few hours and days after the devastation, the focus should be on deployment of search-and-rescue operations and airlifting of emergency supplies.
Needless to say, politics should take a back seat in the first few hours and days after a devastating natural calamity just like what hit six central Philippine islands on the 8th of November 2013. Unfortunately, in the Philippines, politics always comes first. This is especially true with a President like Benigno Simeon “BS” Aquino who wasted no time in blaming other people in his first press conference after seeing the destruction in Tacloban City.
Instead of promoting unity in times of crisis, BS Aquino promotes division and disagreements among Filipinos. His vindictive nature is always evident each time he opens his mouth. You can’t even blame his speech writers or handlers for his gaffes because anyone with an ounce of sympathy would think twice about putting other people down particularly when they are still in the midst of a catastrophic event. The source of his frustration could be himself. He was reportedly very confident when he made an announcement that the Philippines is ready to face the super typhoon just before it arrived.
| SUPPORT INDEPENDENT SOCIAL COMMENTARY! Subscribe to our Substack community GRP Insider to receive by email our in-depth free weekly newsletter. Opt into a paid subscription and you'll get premium insider briefs and insights from us. Subscribe to our Substack newsletter, GRP Insider! Learn more |
Screencap from the Inquirer.net: In hindsight BS Aquino overestimated the country’s level of disaster preparedness.
It goes to show that he can be full of hot air even in the face of real danger.
I don’t know what kind of upbringing President BS Aquino had but most decent parents always remind their kids to be considerate of other people’s feelings. Being tactful instead of being tactless is important not just when one is in a public place but above all, when in front of the media. After all, anything one says in front of the media will be printed and broadcast for national and international consumption.
BS Aquino can’t even blame the media or his critics for highlighting his gaffes because he says the most inappropriate things in the most inappropriate times. Even when his critics want to give him a break in times of crises, he does things that compel them to point out his lack of sense and decency.
A lot of Filipinos were outraged when he compared the state of preparedness of Tacloban City against other cities in the areas where super typhoon Yolanda struck. It was equivalent to a child being compared to his other better performing siblings right in front of everybody after failing in something. We all know something like that can crush anyone’s spirits.
At 195 mph, gusting to 235 mph, Yolanda became the 4th strongest tropical cyclone in world history. While advanced countries could minimize casualties because they have adequate evacuation centers, it is more than likely that even modern infrastructure would have been damaged by the intensity of the winds. Besides, it’s not like the Philippines has an evacuation centre in every town. There was just no where for people to hide to begin with.
BS Aquino’s purpose it seems in making people look bad in front of the media is to make himself look good to the public. Indeed, he has mastered the art of deflecting the blame away from himself and unto others after being thrust into the highest office in the land. It is quite a metamorphosis from the time he was described as a quiet non-performing Congressman and Senator and someone who was happy hiding behind the shadow of his much-revered parents, Ninoy and Cory.
A few days after the typhoon left the region, the situation in the areas affected is said to be getting worse. The death toll is said to be an estimated 10,000 and the losses to the region’s economy is still inestimable at this time. Some people who lost their homes and loved ones are said be going mad from desperation. In some parts, the condition can be described as total anarchy with business establishments and private homes being looted and ransacked. There are many people who are calling for the President to call for martial law. While declaring one might be justified, it is not a solution for the people who are hungry, thirsty, tired and lost. They need immediate relief goods to stay strong and fight-off the diseases that will come next due to the rotting corpses everywhere.
At this point, I don’t think I can blame the people who break-in to supermarkets to get some food, drink and other essential necessities. While it is not right to steal other people’s property, it could be days or weeks before relief goods could reach them based on government agencies’ past record of turtle speed operations during crises. The people who are watching the events unfold from their television sets can only imagine the effects of being tired and hungry. Even just one day of missing food and water can wreak havoc on a person’s mental faculties. As one resident put it, the people have lost all their dignity:
On the outskirts of Tacloban, a coastal eastern city of 220,000 where tsunami-like waves destroyed many buildings, Edward Gualberto accidentally stepped on bodies as he raided the wreckage of a home.
Wearing nothing but a pair of red basketball trousers, the father-of-four and village councillor apologised for his shabby appearance and for stealing from the dead.
Empty coffins lie on a street near houses damaged after super Typhoon Haiyan battered Tacloban city.
“I am a decent person. But if you have not eaten in three days, you do shameful things to survive,” Gualberto told AFP as he dug canned goods from the debris and flies swarmed over the bodies.
“We have no food, we need water and other things to survive.”
“This typhoon has stripped us of our dignity… but I still have my family and I am thankful for that.”
Leyte Rep. Ferdinand Romualdez: ‘not the time to have a blame-game’
There are some who say that they understand President BS Aquino’s frustration and excused him for snapping at one typhoon victim and for walking out of the press conference. But an impatient leader who comes across as someone who is not in control of the situation is not what the people need to see in a crisis. The people need to see a calm and collected commander-in-chief who can lift their spirits up when it is down. As the body count continues to rise, the Filipino people don’t have time for a grandstanding politician who acts like a child having a tantrum because Filipinos have to face a very grim path to recovery.
[Photo courtesy BuzzFeed.com.]
In life, things are not always what they seem.
Sana yang mga Baboy na yan na nag kukunsinti ng ganyang pag uugali ng Leader kuno ay hindi lang makaranas ng matiding sakuna kundi tamaan ng Kidlat at mangisay agad.
Sori hindi ko lang mapigilan ang dugo ko na hindi kumulo pag ganyan attitude ng mga walang kaluluwang Baboy.
we’ll have to remember that tragedies such as this will bring out the best and at the same time, the worst in people.
BS’s behaviour just confirms to me that he is indeed off his rocker. Pity our poor country that we have such a blockhead for a president in this time of great trial. Instead of rallying the people round straight away to get the rescue and relief efforts off the ground, there he goes throwing a tantrum like a LITTLE GIRL who can’t have her way.
I wonder what kind of parents Ninoy and Cory were to have raised such a spoiled brat. Really!
Scram, BS! Just scram!!!!
Sobra yata kayong mag salita parang mas marunong pa kayo, sana timingin ka naman sa sarili mo saka na kayo mang husga , walang kalamity kung alam mo ang future, parang wala pang babae na alam nya kung anong oras o minuto lalabas ang mens nya, o tagyawat, huminahaon naman kayo KUNG ALAM LANG……..ang PANGINOON LANG ANG MAY ALAM…… HINDI TAYO….
and your point is?
Ay alam ko kung kelan lalabas ang mens ko kasi may app na para doon.
Si BS Aquino, kahit na di babae, parang parating meron “mens” lalo na’t ganyan nabibisto ang malaking pagkukulang nya.
Stupid excuse is stupid eh noytard?
Part of the problem with President Aquino is that he simply too personal towards his political counterparts. This is, I believe, the problem with our culture. There is too much ‘pakikisama’, which often leads to ‘personalan’. It is shameful to see our politicians displaying this sort of behavior when they are supposed to be professional.
In fairness to the president, that was a high-stress situation and perhaps the businessmen were overly persistent. Perhaps they were demanding law and order be enforced to stop the looting. Maybe Aquino went for a bathroom break as his communications (propaganda?) people said, and came back. But I’d agree that he could’ve said something better than what he said there.
Gee…who takes a toilet break in the middle of a press conference?!?
Well, in fairness to the businessman, he barely survived the super typhoon and on top of that, looters were threatening to shoot him. Meanwhile, the President probably flew in first class with catered food and drinks surrounded by an army of bodyguards.
Therefore, the President didn’t have an excuse for being impatient with victims who just went through a horrible experience.
It demonstrates one thing for me; this is way out of the sitting president’s league. He’s not up to his task. Someone else with more experience and tougher constitution could do better.
A leader should be made of sterner stuff.
What would you do, if you are on the path of a 245 mph Super Typhoon? Do a Press Release, that you are prepared? While Press Releases are good for politicians, like Aquino. It cannot stop, the Super Typhoon from blowing you up; killing people and destroying houses.
The phantom C-130 cargo planes and Helicopters are nowhere to be seen now. They cannot land on debris strewn runaways and flooded grounds. Or, they may have never existed.
Why not be honest to tell the truth: Mr. Aquino and Mr. Roxas, that you are both incompetent. And lacking common senses. I would like to kick the asses of these idiots.
Well neither those two and their cohorts are honest and competent.
They are just good at Press Release and pocketing people’s money
I would like to kick their asses too. You are right Noynoy abnoy and Mar Roxas are super idiots.
ineptness of BS Aquino and Mar Roxas…. Totally!
Appropriate and incisive discourse, that. Let’s give him a copy of the above article and see how he responds. No need to rock the boat now.
Leaders are born, not made. This president is being forced to be one, forced by circumstances and because the of the filipino idiot voter/supporter.
I second the motion, “and the point is?” Talk is cheap. Easy to throw stones. Give Pnoy a break. Mag bayanihan tayo. Do this for the people who suffered in this calamity. Try doing concrete no lip service.
The “point” is: President Penoy campaigned on the notion that he was going to solve ALL the Philippines’ problems with a one-size-fits-all solution called “Matuwid Na Daan.” He portrayed himself as a magical politician with Messianic powers capable of ending poverty and inequality. Now that he’s been shown up to be nothing more than a liar and a thief without even the capability to organise a high school student council, he relies on deluded berks like you to apologise for him.
Former US Ambasador Kristie Kinney is right when she said Noynoy Aquino is diffident and unresponsive as published at Wikileak. However, Typhoon Yolanda proved it to be an understatement. Truth of the matter is, Noynoy Aquino is inutile and a pathological liar.
Give him a break my ass you indiot noytard. Then he better resign if he can’t handle it. Besides he already has a mental disease.
You’ll see the true nature of people during times of crisis and Noynoy’s is just pure stupidity. Doesn’t he have advisers or something?
Today on BBC World News: Mar Roxas is seen directing traffic on a Tacloban street. Is this the best use of our esteemed Interior Secretary’s time? Let me see, shouldn’t you be, umm, coordinating with local governement on how to provide food, shelter, medicine? How about picking corpses off the trees, digging corpses out of rubble, digging a hole to bury the dead? What’s wrong with you, Mar? Seriously.
Photo ops, man! You know it will get better mileage come 2016 because of the filipino ijets.
Coordinating on the other hand is just plain hardwork, hardly not the the thing he signed up for.
Mar Roxas 2016: Ang Gabay tungo sa Tuwid na Daan (The Guide towards the Straight Path)!
Mar Roxas the man who said flights should be cancelled to ease congestion at NAIA
Take train seats out to fit more passenger on the over crowded MRT trains.
NEXT brainstorm
Ban people from Tacloban end of calamity.
Hahaha.. The “high” ranking officials doing the mano-mano jobs. Mar should have meet the Mayors/Governors, Mayors/Governors should have meet the brgy officials. Brgy officials should have asses the damage of their area of responsibility. Mar asses the gathered infos and act accordingly and that is to coordinate/manage the relief/humanitarian operations and law enforcement.
or he better shut the fucked up. go back to corina and let other handle the situation..AFP chief and DND secretary cannot do their job because of him, they just became a shadow behind this bullshit politician..
What the heck! Amidst the utter devastation of Tacloban city, that joke of a cabinet secretary, Roxas, has still the gall to pimp himself???
There are more pressing matters to attend to demanding your time as a secretary of the interior, and yet you choose to direct traffic? What???
You are dead meat, Roxas! You will never win the presidency even if hell freezes over! Mag binibining Pilipinas ka na lang!
Just because no one will vote for the guy does not mean he still could not win an election in the Fail-ippines! true dat mang!
Pinas is divided into province, province composed of municipalities, municipality composed of barrangays. Barrangay composed of puroks. SO WHAT IS THAT ALL FOR? AND WHY IS THAT? CHAIN of fcuking command! Just like the military battalion, company, platoon, squad, soldier. And its not the battalion commander’s job to dig fox holes! They plan and call the shots! Come-on MAR ROXAS you can do better than that!
Si Noynoy Aquino yan ang top 4 worst president ko si Gloria,Marcos,Erap at yan si Noynoy inutil at impostor magnanakaw din mas malaki pa PDAF kesa k Gloria. For 3 days wala ginawa sa Visaya gutom na yung mga tao nauna pa media and foreign relief. Si Noynoy Aquino puros daldal sa tv wala naman mabilis na action. Parang nanumbat ng nag walk out hayop ka! sana magka lung cancer ka kakasigarilyo mo!
Noynoy Aquino kay Napoles sobra tender love and caring mo! kung todo diet food & military escort pa. Samantala ang mga tao sa Visaya for 3 days wala pagkain at inumin wala kang ginawa bakit ang foreign and media nauna pa magbigay ng relief. Sa pagnanakaw at PDAF ang bilis nyo kumilos.
Very well said po…I always observe our president talking as if he is the most righteous man on earth.,he should be very sensitive as the head of our nation.
@Baltixz … cge pa singhot pa ng amoy ng sapatos ..parang bangag lng..
Wow, your desperation to troll this site really is pathetic.
Troll Harder, Loser with a capital L
tumulong ka na lang sa mga biktima ng bagyo, ulol. bongbong for president 2016!
I’m already done with donating to Red Cross and GMA Kapuso Foundation.
What about you, TROLL?
TROLL HARDER, Loser with a capital L
Seriously, go f*ck yourself. ULOL
walang originality, haha! ulol din daw, gago! tapos na akong mag-donate thru ABS-CBN.
Ulol ka parin. Wala ka nang maibato sa amin kaya puro insulto nalang. Kawawa ka namang troll na bobo. Hahahahaha
“walang originality, haha! ulol din daw, gago! tapos na akong mag-donate thru ABS-CBN.”
Ahem. Are you this guys?
https://www.facebook.com/john.c.jacinto?fref=ts
If you say no, then gago ka pala e. You’re a real life…. FRAUD. 😀 😀
Even someone like Anderson Cooper from CNN is very very disappointed in your pathetic president:
Idiot, masahol ka pa sa ipis sa pinapakita mo. If anything you are a liability to this country.
For once, I agree with Ilda completely.
Saving face is a loser mentality. Saving Human-beings is a job that should be undertaken at once in a time of crisis. Fuck that face saving non-sense.
Looting for survival is not really looting, it is surviving. Now, it is time for the thieves to see what their thieving has done. Reduced the country to a needy child having to depend on foreign powers to save citizens that should not have perished and would not have perished if all that monsy that has been stolen over the last how many decades had been spent properly on infra-structures, drainage systems and cargo transport planes. a few USA surplus C-130’s would have cost peanuts compared to what has been looted from the treasury over the decades.
What is going on right now is a disgrace.
At the end of the day, a disaster in the philippines is simply another way for national and local politicians to pocket even more money from the aid pouring in.
I doubt 30% reaches those who need it. Stealing is in the dna, even in times of tragedy.
Every cloud has a silver lining.
Every tragedy has a dollar opportunity.
Sounds like something Mayor Rahm Emanuel said.
As I’m am writing this, CNN is showing portions of Chirstiana Amanpour’s interview with Aquino. He (Aquino) states, yet again that the lack of emergency response on the ground is due to the “failure of local government” in Tacloban. This was due, according to Aquino, to first responders “not showing up for duty”. Not showing up? Don’t you think there may be a reason why they didn’t (or couldn’t) show up? Now, I’m no statesman but my response would be more like;
“The majority of first responders in Tacloban are, at this point, unaccounted for and may very well be among the victims of this disaster. Until such time as we can confirm their whereabouts, we must assume the worst try our best to fill the gap with Military and/or Law Enforcement Personnel who are now being deployed from other regions.”
But that’s just me… To make matters much worse, that idiot told Amanpour that the death toll estimate of 10,000 victims is way beyond the actual figures. Aquino thinks its just above 2,000. OK. Lets put aside the fact that there are still many areas which have not even been reached by rescue personnel and most (if not all) of these areas have been in the “dark” (no communications in or out) since the Typhoon hit. Lets put aside the fact that, even in Tacloban, an accurate count of the bodies on the streets has NOT been accomplished, let alone the unknown numbers of bodies still buried underneath the rubble and washed into the sea. Lets even put aside the fact that President Aquino has NOT been “right” in anything he has said or done since he has been in Office! OK. Lets look at the effect a statement like “the death toll is not 10,000; its more like 2,500”. People from all over the world have been focused on the situation here a full 72hrs before the Typhoon hit. Governments, Organizations and ordinary people were standing ready to act and they did so in a moments notice. Now, they see Aquino saying this on TV. “Oh! OK. I guess its really not that bad in the Philippines.” “OK. I don’t have to bother giving any contributions to the Red Cross.”, etc… What Aquino has effectively done, due to his own twisted pride and unwillingness to be seen as anything less than a Super Star, is given the International Community a reason to wait and see. THANKFULLY, international coverage and reporting from networks like CNN and BBC are painting a picture far different from that the Student Government wants people to see. THANKFULLY, those reporters, unlike most Philippine News reporters, have no problem calling it like they see it! THANKFULLY, GRP and writers like you (Ilda) ARE calling it like you see it!
I expected that from him, gloating somehow while still managing to blame other people.
Now about the figures, he doesn’t even have an official reference to say such a thing, again, I think this is premature ejaculation on his part. As all NORMAL people know, casualties can increase during the aftermath of a calamity.
This idiot should stop humiliating himself and the filipino people.
That was such a terrible response from the President. No one can tell at this point how many lives have been lost. I’m sure more will die from hunger and diseases. One dead is one too many. He should just keep his mouth shut.
That’s the whole problem with Mr. Aquino. He is too caught up in his own world, pretending that nothing is wrong with his way of “leading” this country.
This disaster should have been a wake up
call for him but as usual, he resorts to finger pointing and blaming.
I’m still puzzled why the noytards still insist on protecting him, he really doesn’t deserve to be followed if he himself is a really bad example.
Are they really too prideful to see how much of a f*ck up Mr. Aquino is?
Yes.
^that explains the stupid trolls like john c. jacinto’s behavior then.
They are still in denial that their president is the biggest mistake that has ever happened here.
Pedro: Wala pa rin daw napasok na tulong doon sa Tacloban..
Juan: Bakit?
Pedro: Kasi sa pilipinas, palaging “leyt-e”.
———————————————
Pedro: Kelan kaya maaayos ang mga nasira ng bagyo?
Juan: Kelan?
Pedro: Sa bagal ng pagdating ng tulong edi next “samar”.
Obvious bad jokes..but they need money and funds instead of hand-me-downs. It is hell on earth out there.
I was at first doubting the 10,000 figure. But over time, I realized… it might even be a small figure.
The guy still gave me the impression that he was still reading off a script, or had someone coaching him. And that he wasn’t answering honestly. Of course, what he said… really made him look clueless. Amampour was right to ask if this was his defining moment. It was. To put it in Tagalog, nagkaalaman na.
US Government sent 90 US Marines personnel and donated shelter and food. It is better than money because nanakawin lang naman ng nasa Malacanang kung monetary aid ang ibibigay nila. America has an advance idea of things to come.
It turns out it’s the national government headed by Aquino that’s not ready for the calamity, not so much the local government of Tacloban, as he claimed so early in the day. Check this out:
http://gma.yahoo.com/blogs/abc-blogs/philippine-government-paralyzed-typhoon-aftermath-230151462–abc-news-topstories.html
Fuck you ninoy Aquino. Abnormal ka talaga! Hindi ka karapat dapat maging presidente. Nakakahiya ka nauuna pa mga dayuhan para tumulong sa mga kababayang nasalanta. Puro pera ang NASA utak mong gago ka! Kasama u na rin ang mga senators mo ugok!!! Sana kayo na mamatay!!!
firstly i am a Filipino i would like to tell to all users of this blog that are president didn’t respond after 24 hours after the typhoon yolanda strikes direct hit at Tacloban City. Fuck you President Benigno Aquino you dont even care youre a big damn bullshit in this country. Next naman ay para sa mga bugok na Iglesia ni Kritsong mga bugok kayo bat ayaw nyong tumbling sa mga nasalanta mga ulul tangina nyo. yosi pa kayo sa harp ng kapilya nyo ah not..Fuckyou din kayo mga gago. go to hell Benigno Aquino and mga Iglesia kayo mga tanga
hoy ikaw na hateaquino. wag mong pagbalingan ang iglesia sa galit mo kay pnoy. nauna pa kami sa gobyerno sa pagtulong. ay patuloy kming tumutulong. maghinay hinay ka. di mo alam ang tunay na dahilan. Bka magalit and diyos sau at lipulin ang buong pamilya mo!!
check – http://www.eaglenews.ph/inc-church-shelters-survivors-typhoon-yolanda/
you guys know why there is no organized help from the president of the phils? because the mayor romualdez and the congressmen are pamangkin of imelda romualdez marcos. Pnoy is holding grudges.. and weeks before the typhoon cong romualdez had an issue against president aquino.
http://www.journal.com.ph/…
Romualdez to PNoy: Stop beating a dead horse
http://www.journal.com.ph
Romualdez to PNoy: Stop beating a dead horse
Sad this president does not look out for his people. Politics of Aquinos vs. the Marcoses and other politcal advisaries seems to be his first interest. Pictures of dead people scattered all over the streets and land is so sad. How can any normal person be a leader and sit back and do nothing for his people while they suffer needless. Step down!!!!enough of these so called family dynasties obviously President Aquiono you are not a great leader like your father you just have the same names but not the same character. I pray that God will intervene with the this tragedy. And your incompetence and arrogance will not be ignored by the voting masses.
Unfortunately, the elite-secretsociety-controlled-Philippine-mainstream media can no longer cover up the incompetence of their chosen faggot-brat President Noynoy during a time (Yolanda typoon) where true leadership is evident to them who are born leaders. In the next days, watch the media how are they going to put on his make-up to look good again. For sure, President Noynoy is not in control, and somebody else is running this country!
Aquino government has no guts but all air. Not a leader but a cheerleader. Never admit mistake but blame others. INCOMPETENT. 5 days already pero wala paring developement, hindi b nila painaghandaan yun worse case scenario. siganla number 4 at ganun parin. ang preparation nila. puro paliwanag si noynoy. naun nag doudoubt na ko sa administartive power and leadership skills niya. since umupo siya wala na magandang nang yari sa philippines. sana 2016 na. para wala n ko mapanuod na mga cabinet niya at presidente na laging defensive at pero paninisi sa former adminisstration.
blame Kris Aquino for forcing you to run for president. hehe…
He can’t blame LGUs. From what I’ve seen in the news, no one would have been prepared for this. Even evacuation centers were ravaged by the storm. It’s so stupid that he blames other people. It’s like blaming his constituents on not being prepared. He might need a higher eyeglass grade because he couldn’t see that almost nothing was left.
eh sino ba kasing nagboto dyan? ang alam lang isisi sa ibang tao ang mga mali nya. buti na lang hindi ako bumoto masaya ako kasi hindi ko sinisisi sarili ko na ipinanalo ko ang pinaka walang kwentang presidente sa lahat. ano lagi na lang bang isisi sa nakaraang administration eh nagkaroon din naman ng ganyan sa ibat ibang administration pero bukod tanging sayo lang na ganyan ang naging reaction ng mga taga ibang bansa. mahiya ka din sana wag kasing puro sisi at nakaw atupagin.
A post from Maricris Bathan-Lasco
It’s quite FUNNY (and FRUSTRATING at the same time) how some people complain why some of us lambast our government. These people accuse those of us who complain as knowing little and not doing anything.
Allow me to shed light on the matter:
FIRST POINT: It has been six days since Yolanda hit and yet, as Anderson Cooper of CNN truthfully said, “there is no real evidence of organized relief efforts” in Tacloban where he is. That means if there is no relief effort in a place where media and our national government is SUPPOSEDLY focusing, how much more in the remote towns? Don’t you think 6 days is too long for our national government to have already done something despite the “geographic difficulty” so many people fondly call? If private organizations can reach the more remote towns to do their own small-scale relief efforts, why can’t the national government who has access to resources (helicopters, ships, planes, military, etc.)?
SECOND POINT: We have learned in law school and even in our political science in our undergrad (since the subject is a requirement, so no excuse to be ignorant on the matter) that PNoy, the President of the Republic, is the COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF. Being so, he is NOT a minor player during this catastrophe. WE COMPLAIN because he has not shown ANY KIND OF SIGNIFICANT LEADERSHIP! To reiterate (and again this is so frustrating to reiterate), it has been 6 days and yet there is NO ORGANIZED RELIEF EFFORT, NO RETRIEVAL OF BODIES and NO SEARCH AND RESCUE! SIX DAYS!!
THIRD POINT: We complain because this beloved President of ours had the AUDACITY to blame the local government for not having been prepared, EVEN AFTER having seen the devastation that YOLANDA has left. He must have forgotten or NOT KNOWN that under our very own law, section 15(e) of RA 10121 (this is a law, for those who do not know) mandates the NATIONAL DRRMC to take the lead in preparing for, responding to, and recovering from the effects of any disaster when TWO OR MORE REGIONS ARE AFFECTED. So, there you go, NATIONAL DRRMC under the supervision of your beloved NATIONAL PRESIDENT. So I ask you, what preparations did the National Government make in preparation for Yolanda when they already knew it was going to hit several regions? PRESSCON lng? Give us real evidence of any kind of preparation that is SIGNIFICANT, then we will shut up.
FOURTH POINT: We complain because WE HAVE EVERY RIGHT TO COMPLAIN. We are paying our TAXES so it is our every right to demand accountability from the government. We have every right to demand from them ACTION when it is needed.
FIFTH POINT: We complain because your PNoy continue to insist that the first responders in our system (Gaaaaad, he should have reviewed RA 10121) is the local government. AGAIN, in a catastrophe of this magnitude, there is no more local government because all of them are victims. They simply CANNOT function! The National Government should have stepped in days ago! And again, it’s the National Government’s job to prepare, respond and retrieve according to our very own law if a disaster affects two or more regions!!
SO TELL ME, DO WE STILL NOT HAVE THE RIGHT TO COMPLAIN? DO WE STILL NOT KNOW ANYTHING?
AND BY THE WAY, THE PEOPLE WHO COMPLAIN AND CRITICIZE HAVE DONE SOMETHING. WE DONATED AND WE ORGANIZED RELIEF EFFORTS. WE JUST DON’T LET THE PRESS/MEDIA CATCH US DOING SO. WE COMPLAIN BECAUSE WE HAVE DONE OUR PART WHILE THE NATIONAL GOVERNMENT IS BUSY HAVING PRESSCONs.
THATS ABOSLUTELY TRUE DEAR.
ur right… walng nagmamanage dun na taga national… sa airport pa lang na halos andun na lahat ng mga tao na gustong aalis kahit pa cebu ,manila baSta maka layo lng NG tacloban.walang nag co command o namahala sa lahat sa health,sa rescue and recovery,distributio of food and water,sa pag bigay ng temporary shelter dun sa pag bugso bugso na malkas na ulan dun, walang nag a attend, sa mga police at s amga sundalo na lng cla nakihingi na cyang hindi dapat….
I thought you were very kind to the pres and govt.For me i disown them totally and i am ashamed that he is our leader.
Compare the reaction of Pres and that of vietnam.At their own cost vietnam evacuated 850,000 precious citizens.Philippines ?Told their people to get out!!!If your true to your profession you should be taking our supreme special child leader to court with numerous charges
If he has failed to react because of hatred between two families then words fail me accept to say he should be forced to resign his post as protector of the beautiful and gullible philippine people
prepared? Asan na ung sinasabi nyang mga helicopter? Bakit hindi nila ginamit ung helicopter sa mga lugar na hindi pwedeng daanan ng mga sasakyan? Sa truck lang ba pwede isakay ung mga relief goods? Hindi ko alam kung bobo ung gov’t natin oh sadyang walang pakialam sa mga tao nangangailangan ng tulong. Kung hindi ninyo alam gamitin ung mga sasakyang panghimpapawid na yan pasabugin nyo na lang…kasama kayong corrupted officials..
” Sir have mercy on me,
please give me a piece of bread,
a glass of water,
I am starving to death,
since the typhoon obliterated our city,
we have eaten nothing,
my father survived the storm surge but died in hunger,
Save me!
I don’t want to die like him,
help me bury his dead body.”
A young lad talks to one of the social workers,
every word he speaks tells the pain of abandonment,
the hunger that he has been suffering through could be felt
from the softness of his voice,
he bleeds in tears while wrapping the cadaver of his beloved father with a piece of white linen cloth,
his almond eyes reflect the desperate thoughts within his mind,
behind him,
his home reduced into pieces of broken woods,
he doesn’t know where to go,
he doesn’t know how to survive a life after the devastation.
“Papa!,
I still remember so well,
when I was younger,
you promised me before the setting sun,
you would never never leave me alone in a struggle against our poverty till the end of time,
What would I be now without you?
How could I live alone on this world of harsh reality?”
Tears keep rolling down on his angelic face,
while kissing the cold loving hand of his dead father,
upon hearing his voice weakened by a week of tormenting agony,
the social worker could not stand stronger any longer,
she can feel her heart breaking in tears,
she kneels down before the child,
could not utter any word,
but just to hug the boy so tight like her son,
and wipes his tears away by her palm,
tears could not be stopped falling from her eyes.
Beneath the beauty of the kaleidoscopic rainbow,
I knew a man who got nothing,
but a small shack and sweet laughters of his grand children,
he found homily santuaries under their sweet smiles,
they live lives to the fullest without material desires,
yet the greed of Super Typhoon Yolanda is just formidable,
she robbed him of his small shack,
killed his only rooster,
and the worst,
she washed his grand children away into the ocean,
they have been missing for 8 days now.
His sight wanders into the waves of the sea,
with tears falling all day long and eternally,
his life is deep buried in incalculable sadness,
hoping for his grand children to come home,
yet nobody is home but memories of tragedy.
Heartbreaking.
The sad thing “survived the storm, but died of hunger”, because SOME IDIOT decided not to release relief goods for the real reason that: 1. wala pang plastic bags na may tatak ng pagmumukha nila, 2. wala pa yung poncho pilato na mag-aabot nito, but giving lame reasons like, walang madaanan yung mga trak, walang malandingan yung eroplano….all those BS.
hmmm… i’m expecting na mag iiyak iiyakan na naman on TV si Kris dahil inaaway ang kuya niya. well, i hope not but… well… she and that media machinery would do ANYTHING to protect him and his popularity.
*sigh
i blame his voters.
there is something so wrong with the masa mentality of falling in love with whoever their favorite TV channel and/or talk show host endorses during an election.
thank you for this well-written article!
We have members of our family who survived the ordeal. Even until today with all the donations we are not informed of any concrete plan from the government on how they will rehabilitate the affected areas and its survivors. I am afraid that the billions of monies donated will not reach the people. We would like to suggest to all netizens to continuously rally on the net and watch out for any information of irregularities of our government officials entrusted with the donated fund.
sana makulong c nonoy aquino at mar roxas pag katapos ng eleksyun… sila na naman i kulong… at sumakay ng wheelchair….
adnormal talaga ang presidente natin… yellow ribbon.. gusto nyo pa ba sa yellow?