Lacson resignation a good example to PNoy administration officials

Panfilo Lacson

Hopefully the impending resignation of Panfilo Lacson, head of the Office of the Presidential Assistant for Rehabilitation and Recovery (OPARR), will somehow instill in the minds of President Benigno Aquino’s (PNoy) administration officials that, while they serve at the pleasure of the president, they don’t really have to be tactless or unperceptive as to stay in their position longer than necessary when calls for their resignation are asked from all sectors of society because of a serious offense committed.

Of course I am not saying that Lacson has committed an indiscretion in his job when appointed by PNoy as ‘rehabilitation czar’ after super typhoon Yolanda caused massive destruction in the Visayas region. On the contrary, it is his sense of good judgment that he is resigning because he believes that the grounds he laid in starting the reconstruction and rehabilitation process should and can now be taken over and administered effectively by the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) by expanding its responsibility.

“It dawned on me that a permanent agency should be equipped to handle all functions related to preparedness, recovery and rehabilitation since we are a typhoon-prone country,” Lacson explained.

What I am just saying here is that, while the Filipinos continue to trust Lacson and want him to continue to oversee the handling of the huge P170.9-billion Yolanda master plan crafted by his office for the reconstruction/rehabilitation works, he decided to resign instead so a more organized agency can manage the project.

Indeed, one can only admire Lacson’s foresight and decision.

The same cannot be said of Philippine National Police (PNP) Chief Alan Purisima, Department of Health (DOH) Secretary Enrique Ona and even Vice President Jejomar Binay, who as members of Aquino’s cabinet, continue to glue themselves to their seat despite the corruption charges brought against them and the relentless call of many Filipinos for them to resign.

The people have nothing but antipathy for them.

People Surge outburst

 

The People Surge, a protest allegedly organized by Eastern Visayas survivors of typhoon Yolanda against the inadequacies of government, specifically of President Benigno Aquino (PNoy), in giving immediate and appropriate assistance to the victims is unfavorable, at best, and lamentable, at worse.

If the whole world saw and responded the way it did, by giving financial assistance and flying in their own citizens to help with plane-loads of relief goods and supplies that came in different shape and forms, do you think we, Filipinos, felt indifferent to the destruction, loss of lives and the plight of our fellowmen after the super typhoon struck the Visayas region?

It is bad enough that we are a poor country, but where Yolanda made landfalls, it disabled local governments and crippled all the logistics needed to move things faster.

That was how catastrophic the destruction was and the benevolent world responded, and the rest is history.

Since then, government, with the help of the private sector and some international organizations, has made the reconstruction and rehabilitation work in the devastated areas a priority.

The fact alone that a no-nonsense personality, Panfilo Lacson, was appointed rehabilitation czar by PNoy means how much he has confidence in Lacson that this huge project will come to fruition in due time without any taint of anomaly and with survivors living normal lives again.

But the extent of the Yolanda devastation should make people realize that the reconstruction and rehabilitation works will take years to finish.

Thus, it is unfavorable that the People Surge has to happen when we should be supporting each other instead of making divisive moves and statements that does more harm to the psyche of the greater number of afflicted people.

Worse yet, it is even lamentable that People Surge has been launched as if government, and PNoy, in particular, is not doing anything about the situation.

That PNoy is being asked to resign, saying he was a bigger disaster for the country than all the recent storms and the earthquake that devastated Bohol, smacks of unreasonableness and arrogance.

“He is more calamitous than typhoons Pablo, Ondoy and Yolanda as well as the Bohol earthquake,” said Efleda Bautista, a storm survivor and executive vice chairperson of People Surge in her demand for P40,000 cash assistance for everyone of them.

If the People Surge in attendance is just a small fraction of the Visayan folks affected by Yolanda, does its outburst make it representative and the voice of the millions that are striving to rise again from the devastation left by Yolanda?

Does it not justify Lacson’s doubt regarding the motive of the People Surge protest when he said:  “It is becoming obvious that their agenda is destabilization and not the welfare of the Yolanda survivors.”

In fact, Lacson labeled them as ‘pawns of communist agitators’ after finding out that one of the groups that supports People Surge is the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan, which he described as a “legal front” of the communist group.

Lacson knows whereof he speaks being a former head of the Philippine National Police (PNP) and a former senator. Am sure he continues to have access to intelligence reports, one way or another.

The following are more of Lacson’s candid, logical and realistic statements to complete the picture:

“If we did not know that Bayan is supporting the group, we can say that they are making these calls out of their bleeding hearts. But why are they suddenly calling for the President to step down? That sounds like destabilization to me,” Lacson said.

“They have made popular demands that would endear them to the people and earn them sympathy even if they know these are impossible to give— why ask for P40,000 when the government is ready to give them homes and why ask for the lifting of the no-build zones when you know this would endanger people?” he added.

 

Rebuild Tacloban the best way possible

 

Rehabilitation czar Panfilo Lacson

For someone who has relatives in Tacloban and is familiar with the place, I find it distressing that government, through its Rehabilitation czar, Panfilo Lacson, has plans of relocating Region VIII’s economic or business centers outside of Tacloban City.

In fact they have mentioned Palo, Leyte, which is 12 km south of Tacloban, as the possible new urban center.

“If there is no plan to really rebuild Tacloban, let’s look for another place that will be the hub of business activity like Palo could be a good (alternative) because Tacloban may be again on the path of future calamities. That is being studied,” Lacson said.

Palo was not spared from destruction after the onslaught of super typhoon Yolanda, so what is the difference?

It is true that Tacloban does not look the same after it was practically flattened by the unprecedented storm surge, but didn’t the Sendai area in Japan looked even worst when it was flooded and destroyed by a monstrous tsunami in 2011?

But, the Japanese were relentless in their efforts to rebuild and rise back, thus, restoring the image and glory of the place. One can’t help but be awed at the transformation of the Sendai area today.

Tacloban has history, it being the capital and seat of government of the Region of Eastern Visayas (Region VIII). It was the first city in the Region to become a “Highly Urbanized City” and is the largest city in terms of population in Eastern Visayas (EV). It is also the regional center of the EV, being the main gateway by air to the region. Among other things, Tacloban was briefly the capital of the Philippines, from 20 October 1944 to 27 February 1945, during the American occupation.

It is only fitting and proper, therefore, that Tacloban be rebuilt and its past fame and importance restored for it is what it is and what is needed to be done in the best and viable way possible.

Yes, relocate the business, financial, educational and other governmental infrastructures, but do it within the realm of Tacloban City.

This is the only way that the residents of Tacloban who evacuated can be lured back, just like my own relatives who are flying back to Tacloban pretty soon, could feel welcomed, secured and hopeful that government is doing something by giving them what rightfully belongs to their place and not somewhere else – even if it will take years to restore them.

I hope to God that Lacson does his job objectively and not be carried away by political insinuations and sentiments.

Of punishing looters during disasters and substandard bunkhouses

 

Rep. Rodolfo Biazon

Perhaps seeing how the people in Tacloban reacted when the tsunami-like devastation wrought by killer typhoon Yolanda practically left them homeless and without food, then ransacked and looted commercial establishments, now comes Muntinlupa Rep. Rodofo Biazon proposing the imposition of stiffer penalties on looting as a deterrent to the crime, especially during times of calamity.

But, as a rule, robbery is already a crime, as mentioned in the Revised Penal Code, which contains the general penal laws of the country.

Biazon is said to have explained, however, saying, that while there are laws that punish looting, the penalties are not enough to discourage potential violators.

The public understands this, no doubt, but only if the disaster was not as massive, destructive and widespread, that it totally shutdown local government for days because the local officials themselves were victims.

But, Tacloban was different and looking at it now, without local authorities governing and the national government responding and taking over at a snail pace, the situation simply called for survival and what happened was lawlessness.

While the action taken by the hungry and desperate people may be wrong, one can’t help but ask if heavier punishment is what is needed to deter looting for the victims and their families to stay alive, more so when there is no functioning government existing.

It is along these lines that I think Biazon’s proposal for Anti-Looting Act of 2013 should need further studies and that comedian cum Senate Deputy Leader Vicente Sotto III should not just swallow it hook, line and sinker.

Rehabilitation czar Panfilo Lacson (inset); Bunkhouses

Now, who should be heavily penalized instead, if proven guilty, are those unscrupulous individuals, either from government or the private sectors, who are tasked to build bunkhouses as temporary dwellings for families left homeless by super typhoon Yolanda while they wait for the construction of their houses, but are already taking advantage of the situation and practicing corruption at the expense of the poor victims by constructing, allegedly, substandard bunkhouses for them.

It is encouraging that rehabilitation czar, Panfilo Lacson, is on top of the situation as he said he is “quietly” investigating  the  overpricing  and  kickback allegations in the construction of  the bunkhouses after receiving reports that the project was riddled with anomalies.

The kickbacks, he said, allegedly ranged between 30 to 35 percent.

Lacson said his office had already gathered documents pertaining to alleged overpricing and  under specifications of  bunkhouses but they have yet to compare these with the official documents from the  office of the Department of Public Works  and Highways (DPWH).

It is bad enough that the bunkhouses gets too crowded for a family of three or four, which was the intention of having 8.64 square meters/unit, but to build it with substandard materials is not doing justice for the victims, as well as for those who have donated money for the same purpose of building decent temporary dwelling places for the poor people, now or in the future.

Those exploitative agencies/individuals involved in this noble endeavor should be the ones that should get the brunt of the law if proven to have violated the building specifications.

No need for studies anymore as material evidences will prove it.