I guess I am one of the persons who you still do not understand as your post says. I do not know the depth of your conviction about the matter but I take your posting of sentiments about the handling of Yolanda as a way of opening yourself to both affirmations and alternative ways of looking at the issue. Allow me to do the latter on the presumption that your wall is a free democratic space.
First, let’s put some context on the issue: Yolanda is one of the strongest typhoons ever recorded in history. Even a first world country like the US had a significant death toll for Katrina, which had less intensity as Yolanda. I speak on the matter with some background, being a co-lead of a corporate response initiative that benefited close to 50,000 families in seven provinces through our people's joint efforts. As part of that role, I met local chief executives, national government representatives, and international and local disaster response NGOs, and most importantly, the survivors of Yolanda. I also volunteered to go to Tacloban City and Guiuan, Eastern Samar three weeks after Yolanda for several relief operations (without special accommodations, meals and cellphone signals) and a year and a half later for the inauguration of health stations and school buildings.
The devastation that I witnessed was beyond words; I found the heart to post the complete photos only a year after Yolanda. I saw how the government could have done better with this and that but that would be overlooking what I could have done better in my small role.
Did Mar Roxas miserably fail and cause the estimated 7,000 deaths and widespread devastation? I do not think so. Going back to the context, there is no way for any human being or institution to stop the damage caused by both the strong winds and the storm surge of Yolanda. As DILG head, Mar Roxas fulfilled his role – and event went beyond his call of duty – which was to alert and enable the local chief executives of the areas that would be affected by Yolanda. After all, it is written in black and white that these LCEs are the frontliners or first responders to disasters. In spite of this, Mar Roxas, as evidences show, was in the scenes of the disaster before, during and after Yolanda. And as I have personally validated, AFP troops and police officers were deployed prior to Yolanda and resources were made available to the LGUs.
Blaming is a tricky exercise: Do we blame Mar Roxas, President Aquino, Sec. Soliman, Sec. Gazmin… or the mayors and the other local leaders, and the citizens who refused to heed the warnings? I do not have any answer to that. But what I know is that we all have a stake in disaster prevention and we have to acknowledge that everyone, not just the government, is doing their best to cooperate this time and make disaster preparedness and prevention a priority.
There is more to be said about the matter but I run the risk of boring you in this long yet factual post. So I suggest that you go through the following links if you are still open to consider alternative perceptions about Yolanda:
FAQs on Government’s Immediate Response to Yolanda: http://bit.ly/1LZGJu6
Benchmarking Our Yolanda Response with Other Countries: http://www.rappler.com/nation/74370-comparing-yolanda-nargis-katrina-aceh
RAY (Recovery Assistance on Yolanda) - Specific Projects of DILG: http://ray.dilg.gov.ph/beneficiaries.php
FAiTH (Foreign Aid Transparency Hub):
http://www.gov.ph/faith/
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