Make Duterte accountable for the state’s criminal neglect amid typhoon Rolly
Maria Laya Guerrero
Kabataang Makabayan National Spokesperson
November 1, 2020
The regime is once again proving itself to be as inutile as it is criminal and opportunistic.
Typhoon Rolly is currently ravaging the country with record-breaking intensity and strength. Albay, Camarines Sur, and other parts of the country are facing immeasurable destruction of land and property, and the people are forced into evacuation centers with no practical way of maintaining safety protocols due to limited space and resources. Farms are unrecognizable and houses, schools, and other community facilities are torn to bits. Reports of casualties and unidentified bodies being washed away by the floods are slowly coming in.
Meanwhile, Duterte seems to be as good as dead.
Being challenged for its criminal negligence during the recent typhoon Quinta this past week did not dissuade Duterte and his moronic fascist gofers from again giving the people nothing but pompous talk and soundbites. Despite 25,000 people displaced by Quinta and several reported dead or missing, the Duterte administration still failed to take a hint and be more efficient in its preparation and response for typhoon Rolly.
The people demand accountability. No, the masses do not need Duterte to “monitor” the situation. That job is well accounted for by every citizen concerned with the well-being of their families and friends. The people demand that Duterte and his minions take responsibility of all the properties destroyed, all the crops damaged, all the lives lost, and all destruction caused by the government’s failure to concoct a comprehensive and effective preparation and response to the typhoon.
The people demand urgent agricultural support. For farmers, calamities such as this mean lost crops, more debts, and having to start over from scratch. This has been the routine every time a hazard turns into a disaster due to the negligence of administrations past and present. Farmers have never received ample support and subsidy from the government. Last night, farmers wrked until deep into the night to salvage what they can of their crops before they were hit by the typhoon. They are left for dead and left to pick up the pieces of their livelihoods shattered by the regime’s incompetence. With the two consecutive typhoons and the added burden of the pandemic and the plummeting economy, they are more at risk than ever.
The people demand immediate relief and distribution of aid. Because of Duterte’s inutility in handling the pandemic, people have no choice but to risk contracting Covid-19 in cramped evacuation centers where physical distancing is impossible to maintain. Social media is flooded with calls for help and rescue to which mostly only private NGOs are responding. Meanwhile, all the regime has achieved so far is create more exposure for the “relief efforts” of Bong Go, Duterte’s number one crony. The people are insulted and infuriated by the state’s opportunistic attempt to turn this disaster into another chance for a photo ops to help its self-serving interests. With the jobs lost because of the pandemic, it is unquestionably more difficult for the masses to secure their basic needs.
While Duterte’s lapdogs blabber on endlessly about the alleged lack of government funds, the CPP-NPA-NDF was able to prepare for and is conducting relief operations for both typhoon Quinta and Rolly. Duterte’s administration can no longer hide the fact that the billions funneled into NTF-ELCAC and its counter-insurgency operations are either downright wasted of pocketed.
The people demand the Duterte regime to commit to its obligation to the Filipino masses during this disaster with the same amount of zeal it displays in its witch-hunt against the CPP-NPA-NDF. Every one minute that the administration continues to turn deaf ears and blind eyes to the plight of the masses is another one warm body realizing the need to oust the Duterte fascist regime.
