Gov’t speeds up rebuilding

MANILA, Philippines - The government is working double time to rebuild and bring back normalcy in areas devastated by Super Typhoon Yolanda, particularly in Leyte and Samar.

Presidential Communications Development and Strategic Planning Office Secretary Ricky Carandang said that while hundreds of survivors continue to leave for Metro Manila, significant progress in restoring normalcy had been achieved since the typhoon struck on Nov. 8.

He said they were rolling out food-for-work and cash-for-work programs in some areas where massive cleanup should be done.

President Aquino arrived in Leyte from Eastern Samar on Sunday and visited Palo and Alangalang towns to reassure residents that help had arrived.

“This will continue until we all rise. We are appealing for concern for one another, cooperation among one another, and a little patience so we can speed up the whole process of recovery, especially here in Alangalang,” the President said in Filipino.

He said markets were opening and that he saw farmers drying their sodden palay harvest.

Aquino called for the immediate recovery of Leyte’s agriculture sector and announced power lines would be repaired as soon as possible.

He, however, admitted that it would not be an easy task, given the destruction left by the typhoon in the province.

Before Alangalang, Aquino was in Palo where he was briefed on typhoon damage by local officials.

After the briefing, the President led the distribution of relief bags to residents. He then visited Palo’s local market to interact with the residents. He also led the turnover of rice, water and tarpaulins to the local government in Alangalang.

Carandang said they were identifying sites to build temporary shelters or bunkhouses for the survivors and discussed with local officials overall efforts to bring back power, secure fuel supplies, expand food aid and get businesses to reopen.

By tomorrow, Carandang said automated teller machines of the Land Bank of the Philippines would resume operating.

ICU

Interior and Local Government Secretary Manuel Roxas II also reported to the Palace that all 40 municipalities of Leyte were now accessible and water supply for Tacloban City restored.

“We were in the emergency room, and now we’ve moved to the ICU (intensive care unit),” Roxas said. “The next step is to bring the patient to the recovery room.”

He also cited great strides in the system of delivering relief goods.

Carandang also reported that to maintain law and order, 1,163 policemen have been deployed to augment the existing personnel on the ground. An additional eight patrol vehicles have also been deployed.

Metro Manila Development Authority Chairman Francis Tolentino, for his part, said it would take six to eight more days before clearing operations are completed.

From Nov. 15 to 17, a total of 1,093 truckloads of garbage was brought to temporary dumpsites by MMDA and Department of Public Works and Highways personnel.

The Maritime Industry Authority (Marina), meanwhile, said six vessels augmented the Matnog fleet, bringing the number to 14 from only eight that normally served the route.

Carandang said the aid pipeline had been activated and “the challenge now is to expand that.”

“If we were sending, for example, 45,000 packs a day – two days ago – it should be increasing to a hundred, then 150 (thousand). So we should be seeing an exponential increase in the amount of assistance that’s going through these access points,” he said.

“In the Leyte airport, there’s congestion. We have to clear up that congestion so that we can increase the flow of food packs and other relief goods to the victims,” Carandang said.

Morale boosting

President Aquino, meanwhile, said he wants to focus on boosting the morale of the people by staying in disaster-hit areas as long as needed.

“If I’m asking things of so many people beyond their normal scope of activities and jobs, perhaps I should be the first to be willing to go that extra mile,” he told reporters in Tacloban City.

The President was asked why it was important for him to be there when he could run things from Manila.

“I think it symbolizes the fact that we as a people always band together in times of adversity, so I represent everyone else who is not from this area, attending to the needs of the people who were devastated by this typhoon,” Aquino said.

“It does add a little impetus to the people who are here on the ground, if they know I’m paying attention to all the details and various other areas,” he said.

“For instance I was in a repacking center and told the people who were all volunteers, remember each family pack you produce is sustenance for a family of five for two days,” he added.

“Your effort is commensurate to their ability to survive through this crisis. I also talked to some of our people, heads of agencies, to man different areas where there are bottlenecks and to declog the glitches in the system,” Aquino said.

The President said that from providing relief, they were moving to the rehabilitation and rebuilding phase because the distribution of food packs had picked up pace.

In Manila, Presidential Communications Operations Office Secretary Herminio Coloma said Aquino’s presence in the typhoon-hit areas had greatly facilitated relief and rehabilitation efforts.