Building Better Communities for ‘Yolanda’ Victims Not Because of Papal Visit, Palace Says

Manila (PNA) — Malacañang said on Thursday that the government is building back better communities for the victims of Typhoon Yolanda because it is their responsibility and not for anything else.

Presidential Spokesperson Edwin Lacierda said that Presidential Assistant for Rehabilitation and Recovery Secretary Panfilo Lacson is making sure that the construction of houses for the victims goes on as planned.

“There is really an operation that we build back better. But if there are suggestions that we are doing this just for show, no it is not,” Lacierda said in reply to a reporter’s question wether rehabilitation efforts in areas devastated by Typhoon Yolanda are being done because Pope Francis will visit Tacloban City next year.

“Secretary Lacson is on the ground working, making sure that the construction continues… The Pope’s decision to come to the Philippines is just very recent, so that was not part of the equation,” he explained.

The Vatican announced early this year that the Pontiff will visit the victims of Typhoon Yolanda in January 2015.

“Regardless of whether the Pope is visiting or not, the work of the government goes on. The construction goes on,” he added.

Lacierda noted that apart from leading the rehabilitation efforts in areas affected by the typhoon and the earthquake in Bohol, Secretary Lacson is also coordinating with other government agencies to make sure that all matters concerning the victims are addressed.

“Nag-request siya (Lacson) kay DTI (Department of Trade and Industry) Secretary Greg Domingo na mag-monitor and he also requested DILG (Department of Interior and Local Government) Secretary Manuel Roxas to deputize the PNP for the reason na madami tayong nakitang substandard materials,” the Palace official said, referring to the recent raid in Cavite, where 40 million pesos worth of steel products were seized by the PNP.

Substandard steel materials were blamed for the collapse of buildings in Bohol when a magnitude 7.2 earthquake struck Central Visayas in October 2013. (PNA) LAM/PND/AG/UTB

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