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(http://static.rappler.com/images/mar-roxas-andrew-stevens-cnn2.jpg)
MANILA, Philippines – A day after CNN called out the Philippine government for its slow relief effort, Interior Secretary Mar Roxas told the network that “no response will be good enough.”
In an interview with CNN’s Andrew Stevens in storm-ravaged Tacloban City, Roxas sought to address criticism that the government response was ineffective and inefficient 6 days after Haiyan, the world’s most powerful storm, hit central Philippines.
Roxas said the "entire force of the government" is "looking after our people here."
“You know, Andrew, nothing is fast enough in a situation like this. The point is everything we have, if this were a gun, all bullets are being deployed. If this is a fire hose, all hoses are being deployed. Slowly, as we’re clearing the streets, we’re able to reach the people in the interior. Imagine a situation where from zero – no power, light, water, communication – you have to build the social infrastructure as well as the physical infrastructure for 275,000 families,” Roxas said.
Stevens repeatedly pressed Roxas about the slow relief effort, saying the government knew beforehand that the biggest storm was coming. The anchor has been in Tacloban even before Haiyan made landfall.
Despite the President’s promise to help a day before the storm, Stevens said his own assessment was that the relief effort “did not happen quickly enough.”
Roxas responded, “In our doctrine or our framework, the local government unit is the first responder. The national government is supposed to come in on day two or three to support that. What happened is that the local government unit not just here in Tacloban but in many of the communities in Leyte was basically, literally swept away.”
Stevens said, “We are at the [Tacloban] airport, the staging post for relief supplies. I get asked for water. My crew gets asked for water every day, several times a day. If you can’t supply water here…”
Roxas replied that the government brings all the water bottles to the warehouse of the Social Welfare Department, then distributes it to communities. “What you see here is multiplied a thousand times by all the other localities inside.”
Stevens said, “I have been travelling to the city every day and every day, I passed through the same bodies on the street. You are trying to reassure the people. They are still living next to the decomposing bodies.”
Roxas was quick to respond. “Let me just correct that. They are not the same bodies. Every day, we pick up the bodies. I myself led a pick-up, a cadaver recovery team yesterday and the day before.”
Stevens told him, “With respect, I see the same ones.”
Roxas went on. “They might look like they’re the same because they’re the same-looking body bags. The point is what’s happening is we pick up along the main road all the bodies.”
Stevens also asked Roxas about an observation several CNN reporters and other journalists made: that there seemed to be no one in charge.
“Is there an effective chain of command, is there coordination? Do you think you have the right structure in place to deal with this? From where I’m sitting it seems to be uncoordinated, it doesn’t seem to be working nearly efficiently enough.”
Roxas said, “Every effort, there’s nothing as big or as fast in a situation like this. It’s chaotic. There’s no baggage tags. All the supplies just come in in unmarked boxes. Yes, it’s very easy for 700 body bags to get lost. Nonetheless as of yesterday, the army and the local city already have 500 body bags they’re deploying.”
At one point, Stevens commented, “Surely, you need to override bureaucracy in this situation.”
The situation in the storm-ravaged areas has become increasingly desperate days since Haiyan hit the Visayas on November 8. The death toll is over 2,000 but Roxas admitted it could go up to a “horrific” figure. Residents of Tacloban have been begging for food and water while others have resorted to looting and violence.
Roxas 'upset' by Anderson Cooper ‘tweet’’
In a separate segment on CNN, Anderson Cooper and Paula Hancocks discussed Roxas’ reported reaction to a supposed tweet from Cooper. Hancocks had also spoken to Roxas.
Hancocks said Roxas was “upset” by a tweet Cooper supposedly posted that there seemed to be no government presence in Tacloban. She said the local media picked it up, and it became a “big story.”
Cooper said he did not send out any tweet because there was no Internet service, and his staff was only tweeting what he said on air.
“I want to clarify I did not tweet that there was no government presence because obviously there is. There are soldiers around but in terms of organized, large-scale efforts out in this community I just haven’t seen that. Everybody I talked to were searching for their dead children, dead husbands, dead wives. They said they haven’t received help in the search,” Cooper said.
Cooper asked his colleagues about their assessment and Hancocks said she got the same reports from the ground and the relief effort was slower than what she observed in her coverage of past disasters.
Hancocks said, “You gotta say what you see.”
Roxas' wife, ABS-CBN anchor Korina Sanchez, had ranted on her DZMM radio program about Cooper's coverage, saying Cooper did not know what he was saying.
Roxas: Other countries have problems too
Hancocks said, “When I asked him, look around you. There are so many people desperate to get out because of the chaotic [situation]. He said to me, ‘Other countries have problems as well.’”
She added, “I pointed out that’s not something you want to aspire for, you wanna be better, you want to make sure that you have a better response. He said no response will be good enough.”
Cooper and the team though did acknowledge an “uptick” in relief efforts on the sixth day after the disaster.
Hancocks said she was with the World Food Programme, which distributed food packs to the victims.
Reporter Nick Paton Walsh said he went to nearby Palo, Leyte and the relief effort there was much organized, with 813 bodies buried in the first 48 hours and food being given out.
“That’s all great but it begs the question: this is the biggest city here (Tacloban), it’s a huge gulf in the government’s capability. There are still dead bodies on that round as you go in, the same ones day after day."
“People do have to ask themselves, ‘Why, what’s the priority here in the initial 4 days?” – Rappler.com
From Rappler.com (http://www.rappler.com/move-ph/issues/disasters/typhoon-yolanda/43695-mar-roxas-cnn-relief-efforts)
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we cant judge the government for that thing
'cause i think the government doesn't have the enough
equipment for this kind of the situation...
like the those cargo planes.. we only have 3 C130 planes
carrying those relief good from the other parts of the country..
sent from abacus using babytalk 12000
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Ang pinagtataka ko lang. Alam na ng government na darating ang super typhoon haiyan, bakit hindi kaagad naiprepare before maglandfall ang pantulong nila sa nasalanta ng bagyo? Ngayon lang sila nagrespond ng makita nila ang resulta. Dapat before hand nakapagprepare at naplano na yan even before landfall of haiyan.
Sent from my Yahoo using Google
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Ang mga pinoy, reactive. Tsaka lang gagalaw pag ginalaw o may nanggalaw. Dapat maging pro active tayo. Bago pa mayangyari, may mga mitigations ng nagawa o nakaready.
Sent From My Sharona Using Tapa King... /m/...
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we cant judge the government for that thing
'cause i think the government doesn't have the enough
equipment for this kind of the situation...
like the those cargo planes.. we only have 3 C130 planes
carrying those relief good from the other parts of the country..
sent from abacus using babytalk 12000
Wala naman sanang problema kung naging totoo lang. Ang problema kasi nauna ang pagpapapogi at yabang.
(http://t.imgbox.com/aczYHmCa.jpg) (http://imgbox.com/aczYHmCa)
Nasaan na kaya ung 20 barko? Yung 32 na eroplano at helicopter? Isang linggo na madaming pang gutom at patay na nagkalat sa tabing daan.
Hindi ko na din mabilang ang relief goods na naibalot ko. Sa bawat plastik na itinatali ko, hindi ko mapigil isipin, umabot kaya ito ng Tacloban bago mag-expire ang mga sardinas? Pucha talagang buhay ito.
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untill now nga sir marami pa ring bangkay ang di nakukuha .. amoy patay na sa lugar na yun .. asan yung milyong tulong mula sa ibang bansa lalo na yun sinabi ni noynoy na naka ready na ang lahat? some people cant blame us from asking this kinds of question kasi kahit ano pang sabihin nyo na nag eeffort ang gobyerno wala kaming makita!!
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yup puro papogi lang si pnoy, siguro nga hindi natin kaya paghandaan ang ganun kalakas na kalamidad, pero dapat alam na ng gobyerno ang gagawin pagkatapos ng kalamidad (sinabi na nga ng pagasa na magtataas sila signal no 4). dapat nung kasagsagan or even before ng bagyo eh naghahanda na sila, yung dpwh dapat standby na para sa road clearing/repair, yung dswd para sa mga relief, yung dilg para peace and order at ibang pang ahensya. tama si sir bohica, nasan na yung mga bagay na ipinangako ni pnoy at marami pa din lugar na nasalanta ang hindi napupuntahan.
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Wala naman sanang problema kung naging totoo lang. Ang problema kasi nauna ang pagpapapogi at yabang.
(http://t.imgbox.com/aczYHmCa.jpg) (http://imgbox.com/aczYHmCa)
Nasaan na kaya ung 20 barko? Yung 32 na eroplano at helicopter? Isang linggo na madaming pang gutom at patay na nagkalat sa tabing daan.
Hindi ko na din mabilang ang relief goods na naibalot ko. Sa bawat plastik na itinatali ko, hindi ko mapigil isipin, umabot kaya ito ng Tacloban bago mag-expire ang mga sardinas? Pucha talagang buhay ito.
eh arogante talaga si PNoy eh sa mga ganitong bagay
at Mapride talaga siya na ayaw aminin na madaming kakulangan ang pinas
dahil sa buong mundo na nga nakatutok sa visayas eh
Pati yun isang station commander ng pulis sa tacloban
sinibak dahil kaunti lang sa mga tauhan niya ang naka duty gosh
di man lang kinunsidira na nawalan din sila ng mahal sa buhay
pati na bahay at kung anu anu pa
sent from abacus using babytalk 12000
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yup puro papogi lang si pnoy, siguro nga hindi natin kaya paghandaan ang ganun kalakas na kalamidad, pero dapat alam na ng gobyerno ang gagawin pagkatapos ng kalamidad (sinabi na nga ng pagasa na magtataas sila signal no 4). dapat nung kasagsagan or even before ng bagyo eh naghahanda na sila, yung dpwh dapat standby na para sa road clearing/repair, yung dswd para sa mga relief, yung dilg para peace and order at ibang pang ahensya. tama si sir bohica, nasan na yung mga bagay na ipinangako ni pnoy at marami pa din lugar na nasalanta ang hindi napupuntahan.
pinag handaan daw nila yan kapatid .. yun nga lang pinag uusapan nila pano pag hahatian ang pondo para dito lol ...
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Parang bata ang statement ni ngoyngoy. Di kaya yung sinasabi at tinutukoy nyang mga eroplano, helicopter, at mga barko na nakaready e yung mga laruan nila ng kanyang mga pamangkin na anak ni kris?
Sent From My Sharona Using Tapa King... /m/...
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ibinoto nyo kasi eh. hayan napala ng madlang pipol
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Palpak.
Peace out!
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ibinoto nyo kasi eh. hayan napala ng madlang pipol
si Gibo ang binoto ko ...... kaso talo :(
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natural filipino mentality but tignan natin ang mga bagay bagay. meron din kasi akong nabasa na paalisin na rin sa pwesto..
"I'm not here to defend Pnoy coz' personally nagagalit din ako kasi palpak talaga ang government natin sa reaction sa bagyo. Sooobraaaang bagal nila."
Pero alalahanin natin, kung di si Pinoy ang nanalo nung nakaraang presidential eleksyon, si Erap sana ang presidente natin. WTF, korapsyon, mismanagement, midnight appointees, babaero, sugalero, nasa kanya na yata lahat.. Wala nga akong maaalang maganda nyang nagawa. Ipinagyayabang nya na nagdeklara daw sya ng all out war sa MILF, accomplishment nya daw yun, pero ano namang nangyari? Ang nangyari eh dati nasa lugar lang ang MILF ngayon dahil sa "all out war" eh nasa maraming lugar na sila. Nasolusyunan ba ang problema sa MILF? Isang malaking hindi. Nagastusan lang tayo, namatay lang ang mga sundalo natin. Pero ganun pa rin...
Eh kung paalisin natin si Pinoy? Sino namang papalit? Eh di si Binay na wala rin namang malasakit sa bayan. Puro pansariling interes lang ang nalalaman. Tingnan mo nga ngayon, may kalamidad na, paepal pa rin.
No one is perfect. Pero of all the president from Marcos, si Pnoy lang ang may initiative na baguhin at labanan ang sistema ng korapsyon.. Yan ang pinakamalaking problema natin at hinaharap nya ito. Ang problema kay Yolanda, mga 2 taon, ayos na pero ang korapsyon, na lalo tayong nilulugmok sa kahirapan, eh dekada na ang lumipas eh andyan pa rin at lalo itong lumalala. Nakakahiyang malaman na ang ibang bansa eh walang tiwala sa mga opisyales natin dahil sa korapsyon..
ibinoto nyo kasi eh. hayan napala ng madlang pipol
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wake up call sa ating lahat ito na pag ganito kalaki ang sakuna sa totoo lang ay hindi natin kayang tugunan... unang-una.. logistics... hindi sapat ang logistics natin.... pangalawa .. dito naniniwala ako tama si Pnoy... yung first responder na LGU ay mismong biktima rin sila... sana lang ay walang hoarding na mangyari sa mga LGU na binibigyan ng relief goods...
sana sa hinaharap ay matugunan na ang mga kakulangan ng gobyerno sa pag responde
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matagal ng nangyayari ito sa pinas
parang ganun pa rin
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well look at the bright side of this one
netizens keeps pounding the government worldwide,
the worldwide media has all eyes watching the actions of the government,
and now the government is being pushed to work more for the people
than ever before.. kailangan pa kasing punahin eh bago kumilos ng maayos..
sent from abacus using babytalk 12000
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sa pagkakataon na ito nakita na hindi talaga handa ang gobyerno sa mga ganito kalaking sakuna.... parang papogi lang yung sinasabi nilang nakahanda sila kasi if talagang nakahanda dapat mayroon na kaagad na nagresponde right after the storm....instead they blame it on lack of communication facilities, power roads, etc..... hope yung katok sa kanila na ginagawa all over the world will make up there mind....