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Friday, March 29, 2024

Tacloban trader put down by PNoy dead at 42

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TACLOBAN CITY–The businessman to whom President Benigno Aquino III famously said: “You’re still alive, aren’t you?” in the aftermath of super typhoon Yolanda died of a heart attack last month. Kenneth Uy, who went the extra mile to help Tacloban recover from the killer storm two years ago, was dead at 42.

“While I am glad that you are now in a better place, I weep for your sudden passing and the great memories that we were sure to have made but will not,” said Tecson John S. Lim, former city administrator, on his social media account.

Aquino

Locals and storm survivors remember Uy, the director of the local Filipino-Chinese Chamber of Commerce, as the businessman who complained to the President of lawlessness and looting in Tacloban the aftermath of Yolanda.

“You’re still alive, aren’t you?” the President replied in that tense meeting with storm survivors in Tacloban two years ago.

Before his death from a heart attack on July 15, Uy was seen as a “big brother, a Santa Claus, and a humanitarian.”

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“He never left Tacloban in the aftermath of Yolanda. He gave hope to everyone and helped rebuild the city,” said Vicky Arnaiz, project coordinator of the chamber and a board secretary of the Philippine Red Cross-Leyte chapter.

The chamber was at the forefront of building classrooms and providing health and livelihood support in the city and in nearby towns before and after Yolanda.

Fellow businessmen remember Uy for reopening his hotel and grocery store a week after the storm to meet he needs of local residents, even amid looting that occurred in those days.

“I was saddened by the death of Big Boss Daddy Kenneth Uy, our very own Daddy in Tacloban…You will surely be missed,” posted another local, Arlene Gabon.

“I wasn’t able to personally thank you for accommodating my parents in Asia Stars Hotel during the storm, the basketball clinic of my son, the numerous takeouts in Cindy’s, our basketball games LNU vs. Sacred Heart way back were all legendary games.

“You were the public servant who wasn’t a politician though very much ready to extend a helping hand and produce some of the most unforgettable moments in the city of Tacloban,” said Roy Manuel Espina online.

“You are a true definition of the true spirit of how it is like to be a Waraynon. Resilient. Wacky amidst the challenges. Classy not bossy. A born leader. You left the city with a wonderful memory,” he added.

In the House, two opposition lawmakers called for the joint congressional oversight committee on public expenditures to convene and provide stricter scrutiny over the Aquino administration’s use of funds appropriated for Yolanda rehabilitation and reconstruction.

Abakada party-list Rep. Jonathan de la Cruz, a member of the independent minority bloc, said the Aquino government should be able to account for every centavo of the funds and donations that had been allotted and given to rebuild and rehabilitate the calamity-stricken cities such as Tacloban.

Kabataan party-list Rep. Terry Ridon also voiced concern over the slow release of funds for Yolanda rehabilitation, as affirmed by former presidential adviser on rehabilitation and recovery Panfilo Lacson.

“It’s not only Senator Lacson who’s sounding the alarm. Even the United Nations, through the UN special rapporteur Chaloka Beyani, has taken notice of the snail-paced rebuilding and rehabilitation efforts in Yolanda-stricken areas. There is an immediate need for Congress to review how the Department of Budget and Management and our national government agencies are handling the rehabilitation funds,” Ridon said. – With Maricel V. Cruz and Macon Ramos-Araneta

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