EDITORIAL - The other typhoon victims

With military ships and aircraft provided by foreign governments, aid is finally trickling into typhoon-ravaged Tacloban City. Tons of food, water, medicine and other supplies had piled up at airports and ports for several days, while New People’s Army gunmen and other armed marauders prevented the delivery by land of much needed relief goods.

With emergency relief finally reaching Tacloban City, other areas are trying to get the attention of humanitarian groups. People in Eastern Samar point out that many of their coastal villages have also been devastated, with hundreds dead or missing. Residents of some fishing villages that face the Pacific Ocean describe being hit by what seemed more like a tsunami rather than a storm surge.

Whatever hit them, other areas pummeled by Yolanda also need immediate attention. Relief aid is pouring in from all over the world, and there should be enough to go around for Leyte, Samar and the other parts of the Visayas that were battered by the typhoon. Misery is expected to persist in many areas as livelihood opportunities become scarce and rebuilding gets off to an even slower start than the relief effort. Several areas in the Visayas continue to feel aftershocks from the magnitude 7.2 earthquake that destroyed large tracts of Bohol and Cebu. Sinkholes have added to the fears of Bohol residents.

The slow, disorganized relief effort in the first crucial days after Yolanda struck should quickly give way to a smoother operation. This includes ensuring that no community affected by the typhoon will be neglected.