Category: disasters

calling out mar roxas

former investigative journalist jp fenix shares his reflections post-yolanda and a friend’s urgent missive on retribution and political ambition.  it’s the first i’ve read na malinaw ang allegation of political considerations in relief ops.  say it isn’t so, mar roxas.

DAY 6 since Yolanda/ Haiyan
November 13, 2013

… I wake up to BBC’s report that “people have been increasingly abandoned” in Leyte. Switching to CNBC, Bloomberg, CNN… and the theme is much the same: Relief has been pouring in from all over the world, but they have been stuck and piling up in airport warehouses in Manila and Cebu.

In local TV and radio, the reports have cabinet secretaries like Dinky Soliman and Mar Roxas saying that they are still “studying how they will release relief goods.” Their concern is how action can be done in the most efficient and equitable way.

In the Palace, President Benigno S. Aquino III is still arguing with CNN’s Christian Amanpour over inaccurate casualty counts, and insists that they are still gathering data.

In the midst of it all I get this urgent email from my lawyer – a trusted friend. It has a document attached and it reads:

RETRIBUTION AND POLITICAL AMBITION – Deadly combination for Yolanda Victims

Read on…

anderson cooper et al are doing victims a favor

Posted by Boo Chanco on Facebook
14 Nov around 1 pm

I now doubt the validity of calls to stop criticizing government’s slow pace of relief operations. it looks like criticism, specially if coming from foreign media, is just the thing to get our bureaucrats to get a sense of urgency. Seems to me, Anderson Cooper and the rest of the CNN and BBC reporters on the scene are doing the victims a lot of favor. We ought to unite as a people to get through this tragedy but it doesn’t mean we shouldn’t point out how things could and should be made better along the way. As for the quality of our national leadership, that is a given already and we have enough experience with them to know their capabilities. There should be time enough to deal with them in 2016. As for now, constructive criticism like what the foreign and yes, local media reporters are doing should be fine.

In the Philippines, clouds of a different colour

… It’s often said that Filipinos habitually elect bad leaders because of our short memories of the past. But as temperatures and sea levels rise, resources grow more scarce and population increases, the effects of corruption and irresponsible planning promise a difficult future. It seems unlikely that our present politicians can lead us against such inevitabilities.

When the news cycle moves on from Haiyan and returns to the Senate investigation, the spotlight will again fall on familiar faces: Senator Juan Ponce Enrile was once the lap-bulldog of dictator Ferdinand Marcos. Senator Jinggoy Estrada is the son of former president Joseph Estrada, who was ousted and convicted of plunder. Senator Bong Revilla, a popular actor, is the son of a former senator and movie legend. They, along with dozens of other politicians and officials, must now answer to accusations that they plundered public funds earmarked for reconstruction and development.

Alas, for Filipinos, this is an old, familiar story. Just as deadly typhoons are an annual reality.

To the international community, I urge you to donate what you can through reputable channels. And to the millions of Filipinos at home and abroad, let’s use this tragedy as a reminder to take our leaders to task. What’s at stake is nothing less than our future.

— Miguel Syjuco

“the PERFECT time to criticize”

Posted by Erin Denise Chupeco on Facebook
13 Nov 3:30 pm near Manila ·

To everyone bitching about why we shouldn’t be criticizing the government and just help out instead:

1. This is the PERFECT time to criticize. I don’t know about you, but I am sick and fucking tired of the same goddamn story every time a typhoon comes our way five or six times a year: no funds in the budget because government officials wanted a Porsche, or I’m the president but it’s not my fault I’ll just pass the blame onto the cities for not being prepared because passing blame is the ONLY thing I’ve passed in my fucking term so far….

2. Constantly not speaking out about this in the past is the reason we’re all in this shithole. When you know something’s not right, the worst thing you can do is to shut up.

3. I can criticize AND help out at the same time, fuck you very much. If you’d rather not say anything because the current status quo is more important to you than accepting the need for things to change, then YOU’RE part of the problem.