Pinoys more satisfied with foreign countries than Phl gov't in 'Yolanda' relief

MANILA, Philippines - Majority of Filipinos were satisfied with the government's relief operations in the aftermath of Typhoon "Yolanda" but more were pleased with the efforts of foreign countries, a recent Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey said.

Speaking at the 2014 SWS Survey Review in Makati City on Thursday, SWS President Mahar Mangahas said their survey in December 2013 showed that the national and local governments, private organizations and foreign countries who helped in the typhoon relief received "Very Good" to "Excellent" net ratings in their operations.

"What you find here are extremely high satisfaction with the efforts of all these institutions," Mangahas said.

However, Mangahas said foreign countries received the highest scores with an "Excellent" net ratings of +83 from typhoons victims and +82 from non-victims.

The survey showed that 89 percent of the polled typhoon victims and 87 percent of non-victims were satisfied with the relief efforts of foreign countries.

Mangahas said the respondents also had "a little more preference" for the local government over the national government. Of the polled typhoon victims, 77 percent were satisfied with the national government while 79 percent were pleased with the local government.

For the surveyed non-victims, 74 percent were satisfied with both the national and local government.

According to the same survey, the national government scored "Good" to "Excellent" net ratings in their relief efforts, which included delivering food and water, delivering medical help, identifying those who died, providing temporary shelter, and repairing infrastructures.

"You have certainly a dominance of satisfaction for all those efforts; all of them," Mangahas said.

Among Yolanda victims, net satisfaction with the present administration was an "Excellent" +74 on delivering medical help and an "Excellent" +72 on delivering food and water

Mangahas said the national government's efforts in delivering medical help was the most appreciated after receiving satisfaction from 85 percent of the typhoon victims and 83 percent of the non-victims.

The lowest was in identifying the fatalities from the typhoon, with 66 percent of the victims and 65 percent of the non-victims expressing satisfaction.

The SWS survey was conducted from December 11 to 16, 2013 and polled 1,550 adults nationwide.

Last week, an SWS survey showed that 13 percent of households were victims of or suffered serous harm from "Yolanda."

President Benigno Aquino III received a "Very Good" net satisfaction rating of +54 from the Yolanda victims, 73 percent of whom said they were satisfied with the Chief Executive.

The surveys were conducted a month after Yolanda slammed into the country and devastated several areas in the Visayas.

The monster typhoon's record winds and tsunami-like storm surges flattened communities in Eastern Visayas, particularly in Tacloban City in Leyte.

Over 6,000 people were killed by the howler while more than 1,000 remain missing.

The national government received criticisms for its supposed sluggish relief efforts while foreign countries and organizations poured in help to the typhoon-ravaged areas.

The government has set up a program dubbed as Project FAiTH or Foreign Aid Transparency Hub to enable the public to monitor the donations and pledges of foreign nations and organizations.