Tacloban mayor’s first impression of Lacson: He’s rational

TACLOBAN CITY, Philippines – Unlike the meeting he had with Interior Secretary Mar Roxas, the ones Tacloban Mayor Alfred Romualdez had with rehabilitation czar Ping Lacson were smooth and cordial. Romualdez arrived in Manila on Thursday late afternoon, January 2 to meet Lacson for the third time.

“I think he’s a logical person and he thinks rationally, and he will see that the ones performing and the ones doing the study are not just the local government,” Romualdez told Rappler after his first meeting with Lacson in Tacloban.

According to Romualdez, he first met Lacson on December 13, when the rehabilitation czar first visited Tacloban, one of the areas worst-hit by Super Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan). He spoke to him again on December 27 in Metro Manila.

The meeting today is crucial because they are going to talk about the local government’s financial capability to rehabilitate the city.

Romualdez said he will submit to Lacson the local government’s financial statement and other data as promised during their previous meetings. 

Lacson is set to present a list of the needs of affected areas to the private sector on January 7.

No aid from the national government 

Until today, the city has not received a centavo from the national government nor has it benefited from the international financial aid that poured in after the disaster, claimed Romualdez. 

“Fifty-five percent of our income comes from local businesses, we lost 80%,” Romualdez told Rappler.

Of its almost P980-million total income, the city lost about P405-million due to Yolanda. 

Romualdez also said that the local government’s subsidies on many operations of the national agencies in the city are affecting its delivery of services to its affected population. 

On Thursday, Malacañang announced that Aquino signed a P14.6-billion supplemental budget for 2014 for disaster rehabilitation and reconstruction programs. To date, international donors pledged at least P 23.7-billion to help the recovery efforts.

According to Romualdez, the local government is conducting a recovery project study supported by international donors and humanitarian groups, whom he will also meet on Friday, January 3. 

The study covers shelter, public infrastructure, economy, environment, and good governance. 

Despite the lapses committed in managing the disaster and the extent of the devastation, Romualdez expects Tacloban City to recover in 3 years.

“We can correct the mistakes that we could not during that time. We’ll be able to correct some mistakes so that it will be much better two years or three years from now,” Romualdez said. 

Optimistic of national government’s help

Despite his word war with President Benigno Aquino III and Roxas over alleged mishandling of relief operations, Romualdez is still optimistic the national government will extend assistance to Tacloban. (READ: Romualdez to PNoy, Mar: Let’s reconcile this Christmas)

“I’m quite optimistic. I do not make assumptions no matter what happened in the last several weeks. I still assume that we will be helped and we will be listened to,” Romualdez earlier told Rappler.

Romualdez called for reconciliation over the Christmas holidays, but when asked by media if the President will accept it, Palace evaded the call, saying that it is difficult to comment on “anecdotal references.”

“Ang kanya naman pong kaisipan ay iyong pagkakaroon ng pagkakaunawaan. Wala naman po siyang mindset na may kaaway diyan, may kaaway doon,” Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr told media in a briefing on December 26. (The president’s mindset is to promote understanding. Making enemies is not part of his mindset.) 

Guarded optimism

It is still unclear how the national government will exactly help Tacloban’s recovery, but Romualdez said Lacson assured him that he will study the information that he will submit. 

But Romualdez recognized the limitation of Lacson’s function as over-all manager and coordinator of efforts of government agencies in the affected areas.

“If he’ll be given the resources, if he’ll be given the authority to designate funds where and how—that’s a big help, pero wala rin sa kaniya ‘yong kapangyarihan na ‘yan, ‘di rin niya magagampanan ‘yong trabaho niya (But if he doesn’t have that power, he can’t function),” Romualdez said.

Lacson admitted he has no power over the budget for recovery efforts. (READ: Lacson as rehab czar: Does he need more powers?)

The city is struggling to recover from one of the world’s most powerful typhoons. Yolanda killed at least 6,111 people and left 1,779 others missing. It destroyed towns and cities, leaving thousands homeless, jobless, and hungry. – Rappler.com