Yolanda victims set deadline for Aquino to heed their plea
Manila Standard
By | Feb. 02, 2014 at 12:01am
The Alliance of Typhoon Yolanda Victims
(ABBAT) set a deadline on the Aquino administration to grant their
petition for 40,000 cash relief and abolition of the ‘no-build zone’
policy on or before February 14.
ABBAT community leader Patrick Escalona rejected rehab czar Panfilo Lacson’s option to provide construction materials instead in lieu of the 40,000 cash relief originally meant for daily subsistence of every family. He said the amount is too small to replace the rehabilitation program of the government.
Sister Edita Eslopor vowed that they will stage a series of protest rallies until the government heeds their call.
“The massive number of people is proof of their intense discontent over Mr. Aquino’s criminal negligence and utter incompetence in looking after the welfare of the people. This is just the first of a series of protests that will fill the streets of major cities across the country to express our indignation at the Aquino administration,” Eslopor said.
Exactly a week ago when more than 10 thousand Yolanda survivors from Leyte and Samar staged a protest march in the streets of this city to express their indignation against the inaction of the national government on the plight of the victims of the super typhoon, Malacanang has yet to act on their demands.
Yolanda survivors under the banner of People Surge laid out specific demands such as provision and sustenance of food aid, until necessary, to aid full recovery while source of livelihood does not stabilize and an immediate provision of P40,000 cash relief for every family devastated by Yolanda, during the rally considered as one of the biggest protest action in the country directed against the Aquino administration.
According to Dr. Efleda Bautista, a storm survivor herself and current executive vice chairperson of People Surge, instead of directly addressing the problems presented by the Yolanda victims, Presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda belittled the series of protests as mere “concerted effort of a few to convince the public that most of our countrymen are dissatisfied with the way the national government respond to the catastrophe.”
“He (Lacierda) believes in the very good rating of the president. He is convinced that Yolanda survivors are happy towards P-Noy’s rehab efforts.” Bautista said.
Bautista lambasted Lacierda’s statement saying, “The Aquino administration is pathetic for being a die-hard defender of a bogus survey even after survivors from Eastern Visayas—the worst hit region by the typhoon—have spoken of their real condition.”
“With no sense of urgency to respond to ‘Yolanda’ survivors’ demands, this government is victimizing us [‘Yolanda’ victims] all over again,” Bautista lamented.
Eslopor, a Benedictine nun and Chairperson of People Surge, insisted that the Aquino government must have consulted the victims at the onset of any rehab effort.
She said that at the rate by which government implements policies like the ‘no-build zone’, not going through any real consultation among major stakeholders who are the victims, Aquino’s rehab plan is going somewhere else, certainly not towards genuine recovery of typhoon victims.
In another development, two opposition lawmakers on Saturday renewed their appeal for action from the Aquino administration on the plight of the survivors of typhoon Yolanda, saying that the urging from the Catholic Church would also be a ‘voice from Heaven’ that must be heeded.
Gabriela party-list Rep. Luz Ilagan of the Makabayan Bloc and Abakada party-list Jonathan dela Cruz, member of the Independent Minority Bloc in the House of Representatives headed by Leyte Rep. Ferdinand Martin Romualdez, said that the administration has all the resources needed by the victims, and that every needed assistance for them is possible if only it has the political will to do such .
“Definitely, it’s the Voice of God urging those in power to heed the crisis of a people who suffered from such devastation who continue to suffer from the vagaries of politics,” Dela Cruz told the Manila Standard.
His statement came after Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines president Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas appealed to the government as well as donor-groups to listen to the Yolanda victims and not just provide them with relief or shelter without considering their needs.
Ilagan lamented that the victims are still waiting for government action on them.
Ilagan said that the urging of Villegas is “not only the ‘voice of God’ but also the voice of common sense and good governance.”
She criticized the Aquino government for lacking a comprehensive plan for the victims and survivors of natural calamities.
“Victims cannot rely on relief forever. After relief is the rehabilitation phase to allow the people to return to normalcy as early as possible. Government’s action or the lack of it gauged by the speed and effectiveness of transition from relief to rehabilitation to rebuild—Obviously, the Aquino administration is short on this,” Ilagan said as she recalled the government’s inaction on the victims of super typhoon Pablo in December 2012 as well as of Zamboanga siege in September 2013. With Maricel Cruz
ABBAT community leader Patrick Escalona rejected rehab czar Panfilo Lacson’s option to provide construction materials instead in lieu of the 40,000 cash relief originally meant for daily subsistence of every family. He said the amount is too small to replace the rehabilitation program of the government.
Sister Edita Eslopor vowed that they will stage a series of protest rallies until the government heeds their call.
“The massive number of people is proof of their intense discontent over Mr. Aquino’s criminal negligence and utter incompetence in looking after the welfare of the people. This is just the first of a series of protests that will fill the streets of major cities across the country to express our indignation at the Aquino administration,” Eslopor said.
Exactly a week ago when more than 10 thousand Yolanda survivors from Leyte and Samar staged a protest march in the streets of this city to express their indignation against the inaction of the national government on the plight of the victims of the super typhoon, Malacanang has yet to act on their demands.
Yolanda survivors under the banner of People Surge laid out specific demands such as provision and sustenance of food aid, until necessary, to aid full recovery while source of livelihood does not stabilize and an immediate provision of P40,000 cash relief for every family devastated by Yolanda, during the rally considered as one of the biggest protest action in the country directed against the Aquino administration.
According to Dr. Efleda Bautista, a storm survivor herself and current executive vice chairperson of People Surge, instead of directly addressing the problems presented by the Yolanda victims, Presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda belittled the series of protests as mere “concerted effort of a few to convince the public that most of our countrymen are dissatisfied with the way the national government respond to the catastrophe.”
“He (Lacierda) believes in the very good rating of the president. He is convinced that Yolanda survivors are happy towards P-Noy’s rehab efforts.” Bautista said.
Bautista lambasted Lacierda’s statement saying, “The Aquino administration is pathetic for being a die-hard defender of a bogus survey even after survivors from Eastern Visayas—the worst hit region by the typhoon—have spoken of their real condition.”
“With no sense of urgency to respond to ‘Yolanda’ survivors’ demands, this government is victimizing us [‘Yolanda’ victims] all over again,” Bautista lamented.
Eslopor, a Benedictine nun and Chairperson of People Surge, insisted that the Aquino government must have consulted the victims at the onset of any rehab effort.
She said that at the rate by which government implements policies like the ‘no-build zone’, not going through any real consultation among major stakeholders who are the victims, Aquino’s rehab plan is going somewhere else, certainly not towards genuine recovery of typhoon victims.
In another development, two opposition lawmakers on Saturday renewed their appeal for action from the Aquino administration on the plight of the survivors of typhoon Yolanda, saying that the urging from the Catholic Church would also be a ‘voice from Heaven’ that must be heeded.
Gabriela party-list Rep. Luz Ilagan of the Makabayan Bloc and Abakada party-list Jonathan dela Cruz, member of the Independent Minority Bloc in the House of Representatives headed by Leyte Rep. Ferdinand Martin Romualdez, said that the administration has all the resources needed by the victims, and that every needed assistance for them is possible if only it has the political will to do such .
“Definitely, it’s the Voice of God urging those in power to heed the crisis of a people who suffered from such devastation who continue to suffer from the vagaries of politics,” Dela Cruz told the Manila Standard.
His statement came after Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines president Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas appealed to the government as well as donor-groups to listen to the Yolanda victims and not just provide them with relief or shelter without considering their needs.
Ilagan lamented that the victims are still waiting for government action on them.
Ilagan said that the urging of Villegas is “not only the ‘voice of God’ but also the voice of common sense and good governance.”
She criticized the Aquino government for lacking a comprehensive plan for the victims and survivors of natural calamities.
“Victims cannot rely on relief forever. After relief is the rehabilitation phase to allow the people to return to normalcy as early as possible. Government’s action or the lack of it gauged by the speed and effectiveness of transition from relief to rehabilitation to rebuild—Obviously, the Aquino administration is short on this,” Ilagan said as she recalled the government’s inaction on the victims of super typhoon Pablo in December 2012 as well as of Zamboanga siege in September 2013. With Maricel Cruz
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