SENATORIAL candidates Neri Colmenares and Susan Ople urged the people of Eastern Visayas not to forget inutility, disorganization and criminal negligence of the Aquino administration during Typhoon ‘‘Yolanda’’ in 2013 when they vote in the May 9 elections.
“It must be noted that the day before Yolanda made its first landfall, President Benigno Simeon Aquino III appeared on national television assuring the nation that the government is well-prepared to meet the effects of the typhoon, even claiming that a number of aircrafts, helicopters and ships are already in place in various areas and relief goods are already pre-positioned to provide immediate relief right after the typhoon but what actually happened?” Colmenares said .
Colmenares said the Filipino people should not vote for Roxas who has no concrete platforms of government except to continue the President Benigno Aquino III’s “Daang Matuwid” which does not have a heart for the poor.
The militant lawmaker said President Aquino and Roxas should be held accountable for Yolanda mess.
Colmenares also urged the electorate “to help each other to elect officials of the country that are truly serving and would continue to serve the people and not those who just make promises and do photo ops.”
Meanwhile, Ople lamented that some 300 families who have been living in bunkhouses in the aftermath of super typhoon Yolanda that devastated the eastern Visayas region have been groping in the dark since last week.
“They are without electricity for a week now due to unpaid electric bills. Soon, their water supply will be cut off,” Ople said.
Aside from their inhumane living conditions, Ople said affected Yolanda victims also complained about the big rats in the bunk houses.
Because of this, she called on the Department of Social Welfare and Development to look into the concerns raised by these families about non-payment of electricity bills and rat infestation.
“Let us cross party lines and help the most indigent victims of super typhoon Yolanda-affected families still struggling in temporary bunkhouses for nearly two years,” she said.
