ShareThisTyphoon victims threaten to file class suit vs President
MANILA/TACLOBAN CITY (PhilAmPress) – President Benigno Aquino III has finally apologized over the national government’s slow response to bring assistance to areas battered by super typhoon Yolanda four months after the calamity which affected millions of people in the Visayas, killing hundreds of people and destroying houses, buildings, and properties.
Aquino made the apology after a student of the Hope Christian High School in Manila surprised him whe he was asked asked about the slow relief operations in the aftermath of typhoon Yolanda last November 8, 2013.
WITH STUDENTS. President Aquino answers queries of HCHS Journalism students during the Hope for the Philippines: A Table Talk with the President during his visit to Hope Christian High School (HCHS) at the HCHS Youth Center, HCHS in Benavidez Street, Sta. Cruz, Manila City on Thursday (March 13). HCHS is one of the prominent secondary academic institutions in Chinatown Manila area. Transportation and Communications Secretary Joseph Emilio Aguinaldo Abaya, Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma and Social Welfare and Development Secretary Corazon Juliano-Soliman joined the president in the event.
Many typhoon victims, especially in remote areas, alleged that they have not received any assistance from the government but admitted getting small help from the private sector.
“I apologize if we couldn’t act even faster,” the President said in an open forum with the students of Hope Christian High School in Sta. Cruz, Manila. He visited the school in response to letters of students for him to visit the school.
Student Czar Agustine Yu asked Aquino why the government took three days to reach aid to residents in their barangay. Yu moved to Manila school from Sacred Heart High School in Tacloban City after the devastation of Yolanda, according to a DZRH report.
“Based on my own experience in Barangay 48 where I live, we did not receive any government or help from the government – no relief, no medical care, nothing. It took three days before the help came. So why did it take a long time before the government help the people of Tacloban during typhoon Yolanda?” Yu asked the President.
The President vowed to do a better job next time after learning from the horrifying experience.
This developed as a group of typhoon Yolanda survivors said they had had enough of President Aquino for his alleged negligence to the people affected by the most devastating typhoon to ever hit the country and will file a class suit against the President.
The Tindog People’s Network, composed by typhoon Yolanda victims, family and supporters blasted the Aquino administration for its criminal neglect to the victims of Yolanda due what they claim the government’s poor disaster preparedness, rescue, relief and rehabilitation efforts.
The group announced the class suit is to hold President Benigno Aquino III accountable.
During the same school event, President Aquino cited the three qualities voters should look for in the next president.
The President noted that the three qualities were: Competence, substance and honesty and being to put others before himself.
“Syempre, number one, you have to — well, not in the precise order, ano
— pero ‘yung competence has to be demonstrated,” President Aquino said.
“May punto ba ‘yung sinasabi niya? Mukha bang totoo ‘yung lumalabas sa kanyang bibig or maganda lang pakinggan,” he said.
President Aquino said a President should do more than just be able to dance, sing or “look cute” in public.
“Tapos ‘yung sa akin napaka-importante ‘yung substance, ‘yung pagiging totoo. Kung hindi mo mapapagkatiwalaan itong mamumuno sa atin, paano ka susunod ulit sa kanya?” he said.
Finally, the President said that wanting to give public service for others more than for oneself should also be demonstrated.
Tindog People’s Network spokesman Mark Louie Aquino said several days after the disaster, typhoon-ravaged areas have yet to receive ample help form the government.
“After 100 days, we continue to find and count our dead, the wounded and the thousands displaced by the disaster. It is depressing to learn that after 100 days, the government is still unable to reach out to all typhoon-affected communities. Aid is arriving in trickles and basic services are still non-existent in many villages,” he said.
‘Instead of focusing in sincere moves to end poverty in areas that are hardly affected by Yolanda, it seems that the Aquino government is focusing more on how to push its anti-people agenda in their rehabilitation programs including privatization schemes on their ‘no-build zone’ policies in Tacloban, corruption-ridden projects as the alleged overpriced and substandard bunkhouses for the victims, among others,’ he said.
He added that the group is demanding of continued relief aid, regular job opportunities, “humane” shelter, and educational needs of children, be addressed as soon as possible.
“We are also students, we want to learn from this experience and do even better next time,” Aquino told the student.
The President also explained that the typhoon was “unprecedented,” saying it was considered the “biggest storm to make landfall anywhere in the world.”
He said the affected scale was also “very massive,” and cited that it ranged 4 of the country’s 81 provinces affected by the typhoon.
The President also insisted that the government exerted effort in bringing relief to affected areas, from clearing the roads to providing food and water.
Aquino also lamented that the local government was “non-existent” in Tacloban after the wrath of Yolanda.
“Our people were there beforehand. We made mistakes in terms of being able to call on the indigenous government entities on the onset,” he said.
“But we cleared the runway that it was operational as early as 9 a.m. of Saturday, Yolanda hit Friday if I remember. So and again the sheer mass of people that had to be attended to,” he added.
Aquino was also asked by the student why he broke his promise to stay in Tacloban until everything was in order. He said he left the area with the impression there was already “smooth coordination” between the national government agencies and the local government about the relief and recovery efforts.
“We believe we did everything that could be done. We were given assurances that later on we are not correct, that things were already moving,” he said.
“So if I had known that it would not happen then perhaps I would have waited until they started constructing the first bunkhouse amongst other things, including the cadaver recovery and so many other things,” he added.
President met with the students of the Hope Christian High School in Sta. Cruz, Manila after receiving letters from its students requesting him to visit them.
During his speech, the President began by expressing how he felt that he owed the youth “the truth.”
“…At the end of the day, the truth really does empower all of us and guides us later on — and actually right now,” President Aquino said.
He noted that it is only fitting that there would be an “exchange of ideas” between the “young” and the country’s leaders, especially in a democratic country and not a dictatorial one.
President Aquino also stressed the importance of education in determining one’s future.
“If I can just impart with you…Pagkakataon na nandito kayo, nakakapag-aral,” the President said. “Samantalahin ninyo ang pagkakataon na makuha ‘yong dunong.”
“…Maximize your ability to imbibe all of the knowledge that your teachers have dedicated their lives into sharing with you and the rest of the faculty and the administrators,” he added.
He also said he is certain that God has “very good” plans for everyone and how it is incumbent upon all to be able to participate in that by preparing fully.
“So whenever I talk to people who are younger than me, I keep telling them, ‘What we shape today will make our collective future,’” President Aquino said.
“Since you will have a longer lifespan than I have, you will either enjoy the fruits of all of our labor or suffer more. So, who has more responsibility in shaping the future?” he added.
President Aquino said that although it is true that current leaders are the ones responsible at present, it will be the future generations that will benefit most by doing their share.
“If we collectively succeed, you will enjoy more of this life. If we collectively fail, you will suffer more than those of us who came before you,” the President said.
“So if we have the choice of making sure that we enjoy the fruits of our labor or suffer, siguro naman kakaunti ang magsasabi, ‘Doon tayo sa suffer’ and that is within our reach,” he added.
He quipped that he would not guarantee that he would only be “a text away” as he is busy with governance, but he hopes that his administration will succeed in delivering to the Filipino people a better future and “leaving this world better than when we found it.