简体中文
Philippine Presidential Spokesman Edwin Lacierda Tuesday assured that all the victims of typhoon Haiyan would be assisted by government, denying that some areas are being neglected as resources are being focused only in the Tacloban City and Leyte Province. This came after his president Aquino III's "But you did not die" provocative question to a
Lacierda said national government agencies have representatives in the affected regions while operation centers had even been set up in different affected areas, where food and non-food relief items, equipment and personnel, are being deployed there to enable its easier delivery.
He admitted that much attention is being given to Tacloban and Leyte as they are the most affected places, however, it does not mean that other areas are neglected.
"We have a forward operations center as stated by (Cabinet) Secretary (Jose Rene) Almendras to address all the areas. We assure the people in the other areas apart from Tacloban City that you will also -- you are being attended to and also the prepositioned goods are already there. We assure the national government is there to help," he said.
The Philippine government would help all victims regardless of political affiliation, he added.
Lacierda said apart from attending to the relief, clearing and restoration operations, the national government had also ensured the preparation including the prepositioning of other relief items and assets in areas that may be affected by new tropical depression Zoraida, which proves that their attention is not limited to Tacloban and Leyte and the recent calamity.
Aquino, who landed in Tacloban on Sunday morning, was frustrated by reports from the disaster risk reduction council and a comment from an unnamed businessman who urged him to declare a state of emergency amid an alleged spate of killings in the city. The businessman claimed he was held at gunpoint by a group of men.
Aquino, clearly irked by the claim, was quoted saying, “But you did not die, right?
