PNoy Apologizes for Slow Response to Yolanda Victims

President Benigno Aquino III on Thursday apologized to those affected by super typhoon Yolanda, which hit the country last year, for the government’s slow response to their aid, report said.

Aquino, in an open forum at the Hope Christian High School in Manila, asked apology for not acting faster. “I apologize if we couldn’t act even faster,” the president reportedly said.

The President’s remark came after a student from Sacred Heart High School in Tacloban City, asked him why it took the government three days to reach them. The apology, report said, is a rare remark for his administration’s performance. The President explained it shouldn’t have taken them days to respond but that the extent of the damage caused by the super typhoon was unprecedented, with four million families and 44 out of 81 provinces affected, report said.

The student, Zar Agustin Yu, is among the 200 students from Tacloban City now studying at Hope Christian High School in Manila, whom the president visited after receiving letters from some students expressing their concern for Yolanda victims.

Aquino explained that in order to get to Leyte, one has to go either by sea port or airport. He said the airport was the fastest but was heavily damaged, which have to be cleared first before bringing in aircrafts.

He also said Interior Sec. Mar Roxas and Defense Sec. Voltaire Gazmin were already in Tacloban to prepare for the landfall but that they lost touch with them immediately after the typhoon struck, adding that the airport, terminal, and runway were all hit hard by the super typhoon.

Source: Gma News Online

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