Relief from political handouts

For weeks after the devastating visit of typhoon “Frank,” the most common sight was national and local politicians distributing relief aid to the typhoon victims.

And it has continued until this week. This time, the last personality to have extended assistance to Aklan flood victims was Senate President Manuel Villar, who visited several towns of the province, including Kalibo. He was accompanied by Aklan officials led by Gov. Catalino Marquez, Vice Gov. Gabrielle Calizo, Banga Mayor Stevens Fuentes, Numancia’s Ernesto Templonuevo, and Kalibo Mayor Raymar Rebaldo.

The Villar reachout was part of Tulong Kapwa. The donations did not come from the Senate but from other donors.

He even announced that he had given his one-year salary for the relief efforts. He also earlier had given assistance to the flood victims in the Iloilo towns of Sta. Barbara, Pavia, Janiuay and Dumangas.

Somehow, one cannot dismiss the possibility that the reason why people still flock to donors is the rising tide of complaints among the typhoon victims about some relief goods not getting to them.

Panay News, Western Visayas regional paper, has in the past few days printed several “Lapsus” items, which hinted that some Aklan officials had spirited away what had been intended for the typhoon victims and in some cases, changed them with locally purchased items.

It’s time for the central government to take a second look at relief distribution and investigate these cases of diversion of goods to private pockets or private persons.

Still, somehow, there were other visitors who did not take advantage of the situation. Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri, for example, visited Danjugan Island in Cauayan in southern Negros Occidental. No, he did not bring relief goods. He had done that much earlier to the communities battered by the typhoon.

Instead Zubiri visited an island resort that had not been visited by the destructive typhoon. He focused on the potentials of Danjugan, owned by Gerry Ledesma, a noted environmentalist and member of the Negros Forest and Ecological Foundation Inc.

And he did not confine himself to the island. Zubiri also urged Hinobaan Mayor Teresita Bilbao and Cauayan Mayor John Ray Tabujara to emphasize coastal management to preserve the environment. This will encourage visitors to visit these areas and promote tourism.

Zubiri, who comes from Kabankalan, said Negros Occidental Gov. Isidro Zayco is a cousin of his father, Bukidnon Gov. Jose Ma. Zubiri. Danjugan is a 43-hectare islet. It has been declared a private wildlife sanctuary. It boasts 72 species of birds and 572 species of fish.

Antique tourism project

It was also exhilarating to note that Antique Gov. Sally Zaldivar-Perez took time out from her relief and rehabilitation efforts to accompany Dr. Edmundo Relucio and other members of the China Fil-Am Chamber of Commerce to visit the site of their proposed P300-million tourism project at Hurao-Hurao peninsula in Anini-y town last July.

Perez was accompanied by Vice Gov. Rhodora Cadiao and Mayor Reynaldo Policar.

Dr. Relucio, who is from Nueva Ecija, reportedly fell in love with the place, which he visited two years ago. Then he decided to mobilize a group of Chicago Fil-Americans to study the feasibility of investing in a tourism development in Burao-Burao.

Schools still closed

I was jarred yesterday when I learned that several schools in Iloilo City will resume classes only on Monday, July 14.

So far, classes in nine schools are still suspended with repairs and cleaning of mud and other debris still ongoing.

These are the Jaro I, Jaro III, J.L. Tiongco, Tacas, L. Mirasol, Buntalala (both elementary and high school), Nolilao and Tabucan schools.

Iloilo City assistant schools superintendent Febe Cang said that aside from DepEd personnel, city personnel, Army soldiers and volunteer seamen are helping clean and repair the schoolhouses.

Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas received a report from Cang that floodwaters had ruined textbooks in the affected schools. The typhoon damage reportedly reached some P6.985 million.