If relief operations had been more organized and insulated from politics, Partido Reporma chairman and standard-bearer Panfilo “Ping” Lacson said Wednesday said storm victims in dire need of help from both the public and private sectors in the wake of Typhoon “Odette” could have received aid a lot sooner.
Lacson lamented that some politicians prioritized helping disaster-stricken citizens in vote-rich provinces over other equally devastated areas.
“You know, once politicians intervene during relief operations, they will not go to severely or hardest-hit areas right away,” he said.
“What they will prioritize are those in vote-rich areas, that’s why most of them went to the bigger provinces and smaller communities were overlooked,” he added.
Meanwhile, health, economy, and accountability issues will top the list of priorities of Lacson should he be elected President in 2022.
While ensuring the recovery of the country’s health and economy from the pandemic is imperative, Lacson said he will also make sure that those who stole from public coffers are made to answer.
“There is no tradeoff between health and the economy. You cannot solve the problems affecting the economy if you do not address the health problems caused by the pandemic,” he said.
On Odette, Lacson specifically cited the cases of residents in the Limasawa Island and Maasin City in Southern Leyte, who were left appealing for government aid and private donations days after the typhoon struck.
Lacson said this could have been avoided if relief missions were done in an orderly manner.
“Of course, we are not ignoring the needs of the victims in other places, but if the distribution of aid was more organized, more systematic, and more focused—much better,” he said.
“Because what happened was to each his own. There was no organized distribution of relief assistance, so some people were left in dire straits, that’s how I see it,” he added.
Lacson reiterated that a Post Disaster Needs Assessment (PDNA) from the Office of the Civil Defense (OCD) is necessary for the government to come up with a more targeted approach in the distribution of aid, especially those that need to be given right away such as food items and potable water supply.
He said this is what he learned when he was tasked to help address a post-calamity situation by virtue of his appointment as “rehabilitation czar” in the aftermath of Super Typhoon “Yolanda” back in 2013 during the administration of former President Benigno S. Aquino III.
The OCD, he said, “really has to submit what we call a Post Disaster Needs Assessment (PDNA) [report] because without it, we would be moving blindly; relief assistance would be sent in different directions, so that’s why it’s necessary.
Under Republic Act 10121 or the Philippine Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act of 2010, the OCD is given at least three months to provide a comprehensive PDNA report, but while waiting for it the national government may rely on initial reports submitted by personnel from various agencies on the ground, Lacson explained.
He said the relief items that are immediately needed, “what we refer to as stopgap measures that have to be delivered, must be delivered.
That has been my experience when I worked with President Aquino. That became our priority.”
He revealed that even some members of the international community that sent planes of relief goods at the time were allowed to break some protocols just so the victims in hardest-hit communities would not have to wait so much longer for help to arrive.
“We received so much help at the time. A lot of countries sent their planes to Tacloban back in the day. I remember even the British ambassador was telling us they had to breach all protocols because it was important to bring the much-needed aid to the victims,” he said.
In 2013, the Aquino administration established the Foreign Aid Transparency Hub (FAiTH) to organize all kinds of calamity assistance it received from the international community in aid of the victims of Super Typhoon “Yolanda” that helped address its earlier struggles on responding to the needs of disaster-stricken individuals, families and communities.
Lacson earlier pointed out that the issues caused by the pandemic are among the most humongous problems the next leader should solve.
But he also stressed a Lacson administration will go hard on those who have stolen from the nation’s coffers, including those from past administrations.
“We cannot forgive abuses of our public coffers. There should be accountability for the past, present and future),” he said.
“There are so many things to correct but not to the point of fault-finding. I will emphasize that if there is clear evidence of theft from the public coffers, there is no room for pardon),” he added.