Haiyan Updates: It's quite FUNNY and FRUSTRATING

It's quite FUNNY (and FRUSTRATING at the same time) how some people complain why some of us lambast our government. These people accuse those of us who complain as knowing little and not doing anything.

Allow me to shed light on the matter:

FIRST POINT: It has been six days since Yolanda hit and yet, as Anderson Cooper of CNN truthfully said, "there is no real evidence of organized relief efforts" in Tacloban where he is. That means if there is no relief effort in a place where media and our national government is SUPPOSEDLY focusing, how much more in the remote towns? Don't you think 6 days is too long for our national government to have already done something despite the "geographic difficulty" so many people fondly call? If private organizations can reach the more remote towns to do their own small-scale relief efforts, why can't the national government who has access to resources (helicopters, ships, planes, military, etc.)?

SECOND POINT: We have learned in law school and even in our political science in our undergrad (since the subject is a requirement, so no excuse to be ignorant on the matter) that PNoy, the President of the Republic, is the COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF. Being so, he is NOT a minor player during this catastrophe. WE COMPLAIN because he has not shown ANY KIND OF SIGNIFICANT LEADERSHIP! To reiterate (and again this is so frustrating to reiterate), it has been 6 days and yet there is NO ORGANIZED RELIEF EFFORT, NO RETRIEVAL OF BODIES and NO SEARCH AND RESCUE! SIX DAYS!!

THIRD POINT: We complain because this beloved President of ours had the AUDACITY to blame the local government for not having been prepared, EVEN AFTER having seen the devastation that YOLANDA has left. He must have forgotten or NOT KNOWN that under our very own law, section 15(e) of RA 10121 (this is a law, for those who do not know) mandates the NATIONAL DRRMC to take the lead in preparing for, responding to, and recovering from the effects of any disaster when TWO OR MORE REGIONS ARE AFFECTED. So, there you go, NATIONAL DRRMC under the supervision of your beloved NATIONAL PRESIDENT. So I ask you, what preparations did the National Government make in preparation for Yolanda when they already knew it was going to hit several regions? PRESSCON lng? Give us real evidence of any kind of preparation that is SIGNIFICANT, then we will shut up.

FOURTH POINT: We complain because WE HAVE EVERY RIGHT TO COMPLAIN. We are paying our TAXES so it is our every right to demand accountability from the government. We have every right to demand from them ACTION when it is needed.

FIFTH POINT: We complain because your PNoy continue to insist that the first responders in our system (Gaaaaad, he should have reviewed RA 10121) is the local government. AGAIN, in a catastrophe of this magnitude, there is no more local government because all of them are victims. They simply CANNOT function! The National Government should have stepped in days ago! And again, it's the National Government's job to prepare, respond and retrieve according to our very own law if a disaster affects two or more regions!!

SO TELL ME, DO WE STILL NOT HAVE THE RIGHT TO COMPLAIN? DO WE STILL NOT KNOW ANYTHING? 

AND BY THE WAY, THE PEOPLE WHO COMPLAIN AND CRITICIZE HAVE DONE SOMETHING. WE DONATED AND WE ORGANIZED RELIEF EFFORTS. WE JUST DON'T LET THE PRESS/MEDIA CATCH US DOING SO. WE COMPLAIN BECAUSE WE HAVE DONE OUR PART WHILE THE NATIONAL GOVERNMENT IS BUSY HAVING PRESSCONs.

That is quite lengthy, I know. BUT SHARO D GYAPON MO KASABOT NGANO MO REKLAMO MI.

Bow!

Article written by Maricris Bathan-Lasco