KMU to GMA: Declaration of sympathy can’t save lives; ‘We want Gibo out of NDCC’

Mrs. Arroyo should prove, and not merely declare, her sympathy for the victims of typhoons “Ondoy” and “Pepeng.” Beyond helping our kababayans evacuate from dangerous areas, her government should create and implement policies that will provide concrete immediate and long-term support to typhoon victims.

Instead of imposing a moratorium on loan payments to the SSS and GSIS, the government should infuse funds to these agencies so they can provide members affected by the typhoon with P20,000 direct assistance. Workers need to have cash to acquire basic necessities which they lost during the typhoon and make household repairs. The government has more than enough funds to give out more than loans.

Instead of asking or pushing urban poor residents staying in evacuation centers to either go back to their provinces (which they left because of landlessness, joblessness and militarization) or move to “inaayawang” relocation sites (which are far from their sources of livelihood and often pose dangers to their lives), the government should provide affordable and safe homes to the urban poor within Metro Manila.

The Arroyo government must not try to halt public discussions on the typhoons, their aftermath and government response. Her government’s assessment should not be a “sorry-now-sin-later” kind, similar to her “I…am...sorry” speech regarding the “Hello Garci” controversy. The criminal neglect that we have seen among government agencies should cause heads to roll and cases to be filed against government officials.  

Sec. Gilbert Teodoro, for one, should be sacked from his post, for carrying out a disaster response that is more disastrous than the calamity itself as head of the National Disaster Coordinating Council. What he has shown in the face of disaster is a callous and ineffective leadership that is the trademark of his master Gloria Arroyo. We do not need more of his publicity stunts and promises. We want him out of the NDCC now. #