Lacson slams Romualdez for 'hijacking' Yolanda rehab

MANILA, Philippines - Presidential Assistant for Rehabilitation and Recovery (PARR) Panfilo Lacson on Monday criticized Tacloban City Mayor Alfred Romualdez for the "below par" rehabilitation of his city a year after Typhoon Yolanda's devastation.

During a multi-stakeholders policy forum, Lacson belied Romualdez's claim that Tacloban City did not receive a single centavo from the national government for the rehabilitation efforts.

Lacson said Tacloban City obtained P6.1 billion in projects, programs and activities with Romualdez receiving P230.4 million from the Department of Interior and Local Government for the repairs of the city hall, public markets and civic centers.

"Let the numbers speak for themselves," Lacson said in a televised press briefing. "Numbers don't lie. It's all there."

READ: Mayor: Tacloban won't recover with people living in tents

Lacson also recalled that Romualdez wanted to realign the funds that he requested and had been downloaded to Tacloban City for repairs of government centers.

"That's one example of hijacking the rehabilitation efforts," he said.

The former senator added that Romualdez also refused to accept six months worth of Tacloban City's internal revenue allotment for the recovery efforts there.

Lacson lamented that Tacloban City received the biggest amount of funds and yet the rehabilitation efforts have been subpar.

"Tacloban's below par performance [in rehab] is surprising because it has been the center of national and international aid agencies," he said.

Lacson believes it is unfair for observers to judge the government's rehabilitation efforts by basing on Tacloban City's case alone, saying the city is in a "class of its own."

But he is leaving it up to the public to assess the efficiency of Romualdez and other local officials.

"It is not up to me to judge him as incompetent, to judge the others as inefficient," he said.

Politics

Suspecting that politics may be involved, Lacson is now questioning Romualdez's motive for saying that Tacloban City did not receive help from the government.

Lacson said they discovered traces of Tacloban City Hall's involvement in the anti-government protests held there during the first anniversary of Yolanda's devastation on November 8.

The OPARR chief claimed that the protesters were carried by trucks from the property of Romualdez.

"There was not a single protest rally in any other area except Tacloban," he said.

Lacson said the national government will still help Tacloban City, but he is uring Romualdez to set aside political differences.

"We will continue to extend our hand of cooperation to the mayor of Tacloban. We will not give up on Tacloban. Nobody will be left out in these rehabilitation efforts. But the local executives must do their share," the former Philippine National Police chief said.

"When you need assistance for your constituents, you forget about your personal or political agenda," he added.

Romualdez is a relative of former First Lady and now Ilocos Norte Rep. Imelda Marcos, a political rival of the Aquinos.

In December 2013, a video of a meeting between Romualdez and DILG Secretary Manuel Roxas II surfaced online.

In the meeting, Roxas told Romualdez "You have to understand, you're a Romualdez and the President is an Aquino."

Roxas had clarified that he was just telling the mayor that President Aquino was being careful about ordering the take over of Tacloban because their families are political rivals.