No friend of the poor
A year after “Yolanda,” the people of Tacloban City and other nearby towns are still waiting for the aid they were supposed to receive long ago. Not a single concrete relocation building has been put up by the government for the survivors, only “shelter houses,” made of wood and native materials, which could easily be toppled by another storm, Why so?
The Commission on Audit reported that the United States Agency for International Development donated about $20 million, an amount coursed through government, through private and nongovernment organizations. The European Union gave out some 120 million euros. And so did many other nations and development agencies. However, until now, these donated funds seem to not have reached their intended beneficiaries. The fact alone that no concrete houses have been built signifies that the funds have not been released to the beneficiaries, or that the government or whosoever are handling those funds have chosen to use cheaper materials to save on costs, to allow for more savings for them.
It is easy to doubt the efforts of the Aquino administration because there really is no
actual change in the conditions of the survivors, at least for those in Tacloban City. In
Ormoc City, news reports say that a lot has changed; destroyed structures and facilities have been rebuilt. But that may be so because Ormoc’s officials are friends with President Aquino, unlike Tacloban’s.
Why the President did not bother to visit Tacloban City was something expected;
Mr. Aquino sees the people of Tacloban to be impatient and prone to complaining. What right does he have to say that when it is his duty as President of the nation to respond to the calls of his bosses? The elitist Aquino administration is no friend of the poor.
—SUNNY STA MARIA,
