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A pregnant woman overlooks Tacloban City, the Philippines.

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Without CNN, Desperate Filipinos would be Forgotten (Cebu Daily News, The Philippines)

 

"Yolanda's destructive fury and the slow response of the government to come to the aid of hundreds of thousands of displaced people, especially in Leyte and Samar, are being reported around the clock by CNN. ... Although news anchors are cautioned not to editorialize or express their opinions, I am quite sure my international media colleagues are wondering what, five days into the tragedy, our government is doing. ... Their compassion and generosity strengthen our faith and keep our hopes alive."

 

By Malou Guanzon Apalisok

 

November 13, 2013

 

The Philippines - Cebu Daily News - Original Article (English)

A Tacloban City merchant keeps looters away in the aftermath supertyphoon Haiyan. Townspeople are desperate for food and water, and relief efforts are not going smoothly.

BBC NEWS VIDEO: E.U. Tacloban Congressman: 'We are losing hope', Nov 13, 00:03:10RealVideo

I don't know where to begin!" Those were the words of a survivor of supertyphoon Yolanda (international name, Haiyan) to CNN star Anderson Cooper, after the journalist landed in Tacloban City five days after Yolanda slammed into east-central Visayas, leaving towns flattened and thousands dead. Tacloban City was the hardest hit of the 40 affected areas, taking the brunt of five hours of storm surges that reduced the beautiful Cancabato Bay city into a wasteland.

 

Anderson Cooper is CNN's lead anchor. A self-confessed news junkie before he made it to the global cable channel's newsroom, he has covered war, political and civil conflict, and large-scale tragedies around the world. When he traveled to Tacloban I think he knew what was coming, and had mentally prepared a standard introduction.

 

On Monday Cooper arrived in Manila, and was expected to give updates from ground zero, but tropical storm Zoraida stopped him from flying to Tacloban. On Monday morning I caught him reporting from the Manila International Airport (possibly Terminal 3) explaining the delay in his schedule - but within hours he was off and running in the Leyte's provincial capital.

 

From the center of Tacloban City, Anderson saw for himself what his colleagues had described in earlier reports: angry and hungry people who cannot find food and water, cell phone signals restored  but no electricity. Corpses and mountains of wreckage remain uncollected along main streets and inner villages.

 

At that moment, images from Cooper's previous assignments like wars in Bosnia, Croatia, Afghanistan, Israel, Indonesia, Cambodia, Myanmar, and large scale accidents that have occurred elsewhere entered his mind like file pages flipping by in his mind. What he saw in Tacloban, the devastation and human misery, appeared to overwhelm him, even as he recalled past catastrophes. Those, although crushing in many respects, were two or even ten notches lower compared to what he was seeing.

 

He may have been tempted to open with a bewildered expression - except that the first survivor he interviewed beat him to the draw.

 

"I don't know where to begin," said the woman who lost her husband and three children. Her three other offspring remain missing. She then led him to her "barong-barong" (makeshift home) located some distance away from what days ago the city's shopping center. Beside her hut she placed the corpses of family members wrapped in plastic bags. Burial remains uncertain because during the day she spent looking for her three missing children. In the evening she retreats to the barong-barong and is too tired and hungry to mind the stench of decomposing bodies. CNN edited the interview and replayed it with the caption, "I don't know where to begin."

 

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SEE ALSO ON THIS:
The Daily Tribune, Philippines: 'Thankfully', Americans Reject Aquino Relief Control
Philippine Daily Inquirer, Philippines: The Unfair Typhoon 'Blame Game' of CNN and the Rest
The Daily Tribune, The Philippines: New York Times Joins CNN in Shaming Aquino Typhoon Response
The Daily Tribune, Philippines: CNN Rightly Shames Aquino Government Over Typhoon Response

 

A little later, Anderson was reporting from the city's main center and announced that the first military contingent had arrived.

 

Yolanda's destructive fury and the slow response of the government to come to the aid of hundreds of thousands of displaced people, especially in Leyte and Samar, are being reported around the clock by CNN.

 

Although news anchors are cautioned not to editorialize or express their opinions, I am quite sure my international media colleagues are wondering what, five days into the tragedy, our government is doing. There must be an explanation because people are crying, begging, and foraging for food like animals. Exposed to the elements day and night, corpses continue to litter the streets, and relief efforts aren't reaching a distressed population six days into the tragedy.

 

We must thank international news networks for remaining focused on the Philippines. Their coverage of the supertyphoon has prompted foreign countries and private groups to respond immediately with massive humanitarian aid. The United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, the Vatican, and many more foreign governments, have donated millions of dollars and other forms of logistical support.

 

http://worldmeets.us/images/Haiyan-family-desolation_pic.png

A family in Tacloban City: Some of the poorest people in the world are

now even poorer. Will aid arrive in time?

 

We are grateful for their compassion and support, but this would not be happening without the heroic efforts of global media. Their coverage complements the work of local media, which has gone far beyond basic news reporting. Many have run relief campaigns in parallel with their coverage.

 

Their compassion and generosity strengthen our faith and keep our hopes alive.

 

A call for mercy flights

 

Unless they have already begun, I call on all airline companies to come to the rescue of our distressed brothers in Samar and Leyte. Thousands have already left their devastated villages and thousands more want to flee, but after losing everything, they cannot get out and lack the money for air ticket.

Posted By Worldmeets.US

 

Military aircraft that fly in and out of Tacloban provide free passage, but the C-130 planes are limited. They prioritize the sick and the elderly, but many more are crying out to be airlifted.

 

I hope commercial air companies will be moved to provide free transport. Philippine Air Lines, Cebu Pacific and budget airliners can either open special mercy flights for a number of days or give at least 10 mercy seats per scheduled flight when they land in Tacloban, perhaps until December this year.

 

The survivors can choose to go to Cebu City or Manila where their relatives can taken them in

 

Airline companies, have a heart, please!

 

 

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Posted By Worldmeets.US Nov. 13, 2013, 7:19pm

 

 

 

 

 

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