Tacloban mayor recounts Yolanda ordeal at Congressional hearing. At a Congressional oversight committee hearing on PHL disaster management law at the Senate on Monday, December 9, Tacloban City Mayor Alfredo Romualdez becomes emotional as he recounts his ordeal when Typhoon Yolanda hit Tacloban on November 8. At right is Leyte Rep. Ferdinand Martin Romualdez. Benjie Castro
Tacloban City Mayor Alfred Romualdez decried Monday how the national government supposedly did not help his local government unit in rescue and security efforts in the aftermath of Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan).
During a post-disaster assessment at the Senate, Romualdez said he asked for additional security personnel from the national government a day after Yolanda’s landfall, but Interior Secretary Mar Roxas did not grant his request.
Romualdez said Roxas instead asked him to write a letter that the local government could no longer function and that the national government should step in.
“Secretary Roxas said we should legalize everything… He told me we have to be very careful because you are a Romualdez and the President is an Aquino,” Romualdez said.
The mayor said he practically “begged” national officials for help, but to no avail.
“I could not understand why I could not get help from national government… Kung kaya ng police at military na ma-secure ang President, bakit ‘di kami nabigyan ng security para ma-secure ang siyudad?” Romualdez said.
Senator Antonio Trillanes IV, who was presiding over the post-disaster assessment, said the committee wants to hear Roxas’ side on the matter next hearing.
Close to 6,000 individuals have been confirmed dead after Yolanda ripped through central Philippines last month. Tacloban City in Leyte was among the areas worst hit by the typhoon.
Some 2.6 million families were affected, and P35.5 billion worth of properties were damaged by the weather disturbance, based on latest government records. —KG, GMA News
