The
President said the delivery of aid was hampered by the decimation of local
government units.
Blaming the LGU
“Our ability to take care of our problems rather quickly, except in this particular case, the foundation of our efforts rely on the local government units. And unfortunately, two or three were just simply overwhelmed by the degree of this typhoon that affected us,” the President said.
“The problem is when the local government unit who are acting as first responders fail to respond appropriately, then there was that breakdown. People became desperate and that’s why we are trying to fast-track the situation where the national government takes over these local government functions so that order is restored and people gain the confidence that their needs are being addressed and will be addressed fully.”
“But other than that, in the other areas, there was preemptive evacuation and cooperation from the citizenry, which brought down the casualty figures from the other areas affected, except for this corridor in the Leyte and two Samar provinces,” he added.
On number of Casualties
“Ten thousand, I think, is too much. And perhaps that was also brought about by being in the center of the destruction. There was emotional trauma involved with that particular estimate, quoting both a police official and a local government official. They were too close to the incident. They did not have basis for it,” he said.
“So far, 2,000 to about 2,500 is the figure we are working on as far as deaths are concerned. But this might still get higher,” Aquino added.
“Our ability to take care of our problems rather quickly, except in this particular case, the foundation of our efforts rely on the local government units. And unfortunately, two or three were just simply overwhelmed by the degree of this typhoon that affected us,” the President said.
“The problem is when the local government unit who are acting as first responders fail to respond appropriately, then there was that breakdown. People became desperate and that’s why we are trying to fast-track the situation where the national government takes over these local government functions so that order is restored and people gain the confidence that their needs are being addressed and will be addressed fully.”
“But other than that, in the other areas, there was preemptive evacuation and cooperation from the citizenry, which brought down the casualty figures from the other areas affected, except for this corridor in the Leyte and two Samar provinces,” he added.
On number of Casualties
“Ten thousand, I think, is too much. And perhaps that was also brought about by being in the center of the destruction. There was emotional trauma involved with that particular estimate, quoting both a police official and a local government official. They were too close to the incident. They did not have basis for it,” he said.
“So far, 2,000 to about 2,500 is the figure we are working on as far as deaths are concerned. But this might still get higher,” Aquino added.
LP territory in Samar
“Guiuan
is organized so we are able to move faster and we can share the load with the
local government. In other areas, their data (on casualties, among others) and
figures are incomplete,” he said.
“I cannot afford to get mad at this point, but I want to emphasize that your LGU here in Guiuan has been very efficient in serving as the first responder,” Aquino said.
The President said if LGUs were unable to prepare well, it adds more burden to the national government which has to assume the role of being the first responder.
“We have already announced the path of the typhoon so local officials should have mobilized faster,” the President said, without mentioning the cities or municipalites which he thought failed to prepare enough ahead of super typhoon Yolanda.
“I cannot afford to get mad at this point, but I want to emphasize that your LGU here in Guiuan has been very efficient in serving as the first responder,” Aquino said.
The President said if LGUs were unable to prepare well, it adds more burden to the national government which has to assume the role of being the first responder.
“We have already announced the path of the typhoon so local officials should have mobilized faster,” the President said, without mentioning the cities or municipalites which he thought failed to prepare enough ahead of super typhoon Yolanda.
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