An aerial view of houses devastated by Typhoon Haiyan is seen at Barangay San Antonio, Basey Samar November 25, 2013. Typhoon Haiyan, the biggest storm ever to make landfall, struck the central Visayan islands on November 8, killing more than 5,200 people, displacing 4.4 million and destroying about 12 billion pesos in crops, property and infrastructure.(MNS photo)
MANILA (Mabuhay) – Vice President Jejomar Binay appealed for a stop to the mudslinging amid the relief and rehabilitation efforts being done for the survivors of super typhoon Yolanda.
“This is not the time for disunity and mudslinging. Let us not allow selfish personal agenda from tainting our efforts to help the affected families. Likewise, let us rise above partisanship and the narrow, emasculating confines of politics, and render service to those in need, regardless of political affiliations,” Binay told the Junior Chamber International (JCI) Senate during their induction ceremonies in Bacolod City.
Binay was earlier lambasted for distributing packs with his office’s stickers on them. He denied, however, that he had approved it.
In his speech, he asked that the public instead focus on the issue at hand.
“Yolanda has issued the sternest and most tragic of warnings. And the chilling truth is that it may only herald the coming of larger and fiercer typhoons. We cannot change the whims of weather, at least not overnight. But we can change the way we build, the way we live, and the way we move after the winds and the waves calm down,” the Vice President said.
He also urged the JCI Senate to do its part in these efforts.
“You come from various walks and live in equally varied communities where you all seek to make a professional and social difference. You have taken on worldwide causes such as providing cures for disease and bringing water to those who have none. You set people on fire with the spirit of entrepreneurship so that they may be active participants in their own destinies. Yet all of this will be for naught, if the fruits of our labors are washed away by the next great deluge,” he said.
“As the lenses of the world’s media begin to drift towards other events around the globe, let us not let up on the work we have begun. Let us not allow the flames of the human spirit to wither and die. Let us instead press on with even greater determination and vigor. I ask that your organization, which has for so long been actively upholding its civic duties, once again exert the greatest pains to serve the people in this time of great need,” Binay said. (MNS)