Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Philippines Typhoon Haiyan - Aftermath Update as of November 20, 2013




Typhoon Haiyan Aftermath Update:
1. President Aquino - Having incurred the wrath of many Filipinos following the inaction of the government after Haiyan struck, Aquino declared he was personally taking charge of all relief efforts. He set up camp in battered Tacloban and he has also visited other hard-hit areas in Leyte and Samar islands;



2. Department of Interior and Local Government Secretary Mar Roxas, who is said to have presidential ambitions, has also angered many Filipinos.  He and Aquino had excused the paralysis of the Philippine government by saying it was the duty of local governments to take care of their own jurisdiction and people. Roxas, who is in Tacloban, reportedly asked Mayor Romualdez to surrender his post to him;

3. Korina Sanchez - (wife of Secretary Mar Roxas and news anchor of ABS-CBN in Manila), who said in her radio show that CNN's Anderson Cooper was wrong, also earned the ire of Cooper, CNN, Netizens, and many Filipinos. She reportedly was suspended for a week by her employer, ABS-CBN although Sanchez later said she was on assignment outside of Manila.

4. Elmer Soria - the Police General who gave the death toll estimate of 10,000 was removed from his post soon after Aquino's interview with CNN's Christiane Amanpour.  "It was deemed by higher quarters that he might need to go through a stress debriefing," said a spokesman for the Philippine National Police.

5. Death toll -  Local journalists in Samar and Leyte have "allegedly caught government officials deliberately hiding the number of deaths" and they say the death count as of November 16 should be 5,016 while the Philippine National Disaster Agency's death toll is 3,982 deaths.

I quote from an Australian news article:

"When the local reporters wanted an explanation for the new and reduced figures, one of the officials from OCD Region 8 said they were reprimanded by Interior and Local Government Secretary Mar Roxas for revealing the true number of deaths. Mr Roxas allegedly wanted the number reduced at 3,422 at that time."

Read also - Philippine Agency continues to challenge the UN figures.

Meantime, relief seems to be reaching many devastated places in the Philippines, but not all. There are remote areas that have not received help, including villages in Northern Cebu.

The World Bank has offered a $500M loan to the Philippines; some Filipinos want to track government spending of this and other aid coming into the Philippines.





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Read also
Medecins Sans Frontieres/Doctors Without Borders updates
Mass burials may complicate Philippines typhoon Haiyan recovery
UK doctors speak from storm-hit country
Surviving the Aftermath

Childhood in the path of typhoons
Jews in the Philippines - 1940 and 2013
Northern Cebu still needs help
Filipino filmmaker Peque Gallaga rants against Philippine Officials
The Anderson Cooper, Korina Sanchez, President Aquino Debacle
Fundraisers for Haiyan Victims

This is all for now,

















tags: Philippines, Haiyan, Yolanda, Cebu, Leyte, Samar, Capiz, Northern Cebu, President Aquino, Mar Roxas, Korina Sanchez, Elmer Soria


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