EDITORIAL - What's in store for the rehab campaign?

Secretary Panfilo Lacson has quit as the main man in the government's rehabilitation of areas ravaged by super typhoon Yolanda last year. Although it has already been accepted by President Aquino, Lacson's irrevocable resignation would only take effect two months from now since there is a need to prepare for the transition to the proper agencies.

The rehab czar said he had already done his job in the government's recovery efforts. So it's time to leave. For him, it seems, the mission was already 100 percent fulfilled and that it's time for the proper government agencies to continue the task.

However, there are still doubts on whether he had fully finished his responsibility. That is because thousands are still confined to evacuation centers across the Visayas waiting for more shelter assistance from the government.

Even Lacson himself has been frustrated over the pace of the rehabilitation. It has been widely reported that Lacson has some issues with other government officials over the recovery, even accusing them of not cooperating with him.

Of course, central to this issue is the funding. We all know that Lacson has been having a hard time getting enough budget from the government for the speedy implementation of the recovery program.

In fact in Cebu, for example, it was reported that the national government has yet to transfer billions in rehabilitation funds intended for the province's northern areas that were devastated by the strongest typhoon on record.

Good thing that immediately after Yolanda's onslaught, non-government organizations and some foreign donors were quick in responding to the needs of the victims, erecting shelters for those whose houses were destroyed by the typhoon.

In fairness to Lacson, he did a very good job. The former senator was very hands on in attending to his daily function, personally visiting devastated areas to oversee the recovery efforts.

However, he still came up short. His office has failed to live up to the typhoon victims' expectations because of the limited resources owing to the lack of funding from the national government.

 Without a central figure administering the Yolanda rehab campaign, the main task would soon shift to the government's disaster and welfare agencies. But can this new scheme surmount the pestering bureaucracy and politics that would surely stand in its way?