http://www.worldmeets.us/images/Typhoon-Samar-Island-US-Skyhawk_pic.png

A U.S. Navy Sea Hawk helicopter lands with desperately-needed

supplies in Salcedo, Samar Island, Philippines. The U.S. Navy has

reportedly refused to hand oversight of its typhoon relief efforts

to the Aquino Administration.

[Click Here for NBC Photo Gallery]

 

 

'Thankfully', Americans Reject Aquino Relief Control (The Daily Tribune, The Philippines)

 

"The only discernible distribution system yet to provide relief to devastated Leyte Province has been mounted by the aircraft carrier USS George Washington, which has deployed its choppers in non-stop airlift and air drop operations. ... There were even attempts by the Aquino Administration to put the already-effective operations of the U.S. vessel under its control - or at least schedule chopper operations - which thankfully, the Americans ignored."

 

EDITORIAL

 

November 18, 2013

 

The Philippines - The Daily Tribune - Original Article (English)

Two brothers wheel their grandmother in a shopping cart to the evacuation area of Tacloban airport, Nov. 12.

NEW YORK TIMES VIDEO: A sample of President Benigno S. Aquino’s statements on Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines, Nov 13, 00:01:06RealVideo

With Noynoy [derogatory term for President Benigno Aquino] busy passing the buck for slow relief operations in the aftermath of Typhoon Yolanda [aka/ Typhoon Haiyan], with casualties rising as the Palace tones down the figures, Filipinos realize that all they can do now is stop expecting government to act and instead take matters into their own hands.

 

Like ants attracted to sugar, Filipinos are trooping to the disaster zones with their own supplies government failed to deliver more than a week after the typhoon hit, bringing devastation in the eastern Visayas.

 

The government, through Noynoy double [Interior Secretary] Mar Roxas, appears to be encouraging people in the most devastated areas like Tacloban City to fend for themselves, telling relief volunteers to be "self sufficient." He may well have said the same to victims of the disaster, since no organized help is reaching them.

 

The only discernible distribution system yet to provide relief to devastated Leyte Province has been mounted by the aircraft carrier USS George Washington, which has deployed its choppers in non-stop airlift and air drop operations.

 

http://www.worldmeets.us/images/typhoon-mass-grave_pic.png

Two boys help fill one of the mass graves in Tacloban City, Nov. 14.

[Click Here for NBC Photo Gallery]

 

SEE ALSO ON THIS:
Cebu Daily News, The Philippines: Post 9-11 U.S. Leaders a Model for Philippines
Philippine Daily Inquirer, Philippines: An 'Irrelevant President', Not Anderson Cooper, is Our Problem
The Philippine Star, The Philippines: Filipinos 'Thank God for the United States!'
The Daily Tribune, The Philippines: Thankfully', Americans Reject Aquino Relief Control
Philippine Daily Inquirer, Philippines: The Unfair Typhoon 'Blame Game' of CNN and the Rest
The Daily Tribune, Philippines: New York Times Joins CNN in Shaming Aquino Typhoon Response
Cebu Daily News, The Philippines: Without CNN, Desperate Filipinos would be Forgotten
The Daily Tribune, Philippines: CNN Rightly Shames Aquino Government Over Typhoon Response

 

There were even attempts by the Aquino Administration to put the already-effective operations of the U.S. vessel under its control - or at least schedule chopper operations - which thankfully the Americans ignored.

 

Noynoy and his wards appear bent on squeezing as much political capital as possible out of the relief operations, as evidenced by the reminder issued to donors by the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) that their generosity is subject to a tax unless coordinated with government.

 

Relief materials passing through the government are repackaged, which is all well and good, since victims need relief materials aside from food. However, the supplies are conveniently packaged in bags with DSWD [Department of Social Welfare and Development] printed prominently, which seems in bad taste since most are private donations, and aside from the repackaging, didn't come from government. Yet this same government calls any other donor putting its name or logo in such packed goods “EPAL” [Philippine slang meaning one who wants attention for something that deson't concern them]. DSWD is obviously trying to take credit for the provision of these packages, when all it did was to pack them in DSWD plastic bags.

 

Knowing better than to expect that Noynoy and his administration will ever get its act together, Filipinos have resorted to their own ingenuity to help relatives survive in the disaster zones.

 

The incompetence of the Noynoy's administration has thus has created an additional whirlpool of disaster in the crisis areas, as people converge on instead of staying clear of the areas to lessen the burden on relief operations.

 

Food and supplies brought by these frustrated individuals to family members caught in the crisis zones will last at most http://www.worldmeets.us/images/typhoon-Roxas-aquino-caption_pic.pnga week before they, too, suffer the fates of their relatives - which is necessarily relying on external help.

 

For the most part, those fleeing Leyte become refugees in nearby provinces which have been similarly affected by the typhoon. Such provinces, such as Cebu, will then have to share their own meager available resources with those thrust into their care.

 

The Noynoy government must come through, because it cannot rely on the influx of foreign help forever, which is like a crutch for Noynoy's incompetence.

 

Up to now, even less logistically challenging areas of Leyte Province have yet to receive government aid. In areas where death was minimal, because of slow government response, residents continue to face the prospect of suffering and even death from hunger.

 

During this unprecedented calamity, Interior Secretary Roxas' wise crack on the slow pace of government aid was that “no response is fast enough.” His statement, however, is predicated on the fiction that the government is providing something tangible to survivors. In most of the devastated provinces, mostly now in the Visayas, the trouble is that there is none.

 

In school, Mar [Roxas] must have missed the math lesson about how zero minus any number remains zero.

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