MANILA – Habang nananatiling walang kuryente at tubig ang mga lalawigang sinalanta ng Bagyong Odette, umapela si Pangulong Rodrigo Duterte ng pasensya at tiniyak sa mga biktima na darating ang tulong.

Sa isang talumpati sa Maasin City, Leyte nitong Sabado, ikinalungkot ni Duterte ang pagpapabagal ng bureaucratic red tape sa pamamahagi ng tulong sa mga lugar na sinalanta ng bagyo.

“I can promise to the people that help will arrive. Just give us a bit more time because there’s a lot of paperwork in government. For every move you make, there’s a layer of papers that… Government works that way. And if you try to rush things, you may face deeper problems. That’s the problem because we can’t release the budget immediately,” sinabi ni Duterte, nagsasalita sa local dialect.

Nangako siyang magbibigay ng humigit-kumulang PHP2 bilyon sa Leyte at iba pang lalawigang naapektuhan ng bagyo, ngunit inamin niyang maaaring hindi sapat ang halaga para mapunan ang pinsala.

“If you were to give help to everyone in one area and make reparations for the damage, that amount won’t suffice. But with that amount, you can divide it amongst yourselves. Well, you can address other damages later. If it were up to me, you start working on this one, just gradually repair the damage,” idinagdag niya.

Bagama’t may pondo ang gobyerno para sa relief at rehabilitation efforts, sinabi niya na malaking bahagi ang naubos para sa pagtugon sa coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19).

“They have funds for reconstruction. The problem is our people because as I intimated to them last night in our meeting, I didn’t say we don’t have money, that we don’t have enough funds to help the people. We do have money but it’s almost depleted because we’ve spent it on Covid,” aniya.

Sinabi rin ni Duterte na ang pagkain, maiinom na tubig, at iba pang mapagkukunan ay ipinadala rin.

“Sooner or later, it will arrive, usually it will arrive sooner because it’s already prepositioned near the areas along the path of the typhoon,” idinagdag niya.

“On a long term, the people should not go hungry, and that is the job of the DSWD [Department of Social Welfare and Development]. But General Jalad, they are the first to enter to take care of everything or to place the situation under control. They’ll provide food for everybody, so that’s not a problem anymore,” aniya.

Nagsagawa ng aerial inspection si Duterte sa lugar na sinalanta ng bagyong Odette bago nakipag-usap sa mga lokal na opisyal.

Nauna niyang itinalaga si DSWD Secretary Rolando Bautista na magsilbing crisis manager sa Surigao del Norte at Dinagat Islands sa tulong ng National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) Executive Director at Civil Defense Administrator Undersecretary Ricardo Jalad.

Ipinag-utos din niya na gamitin ang lahat ng asset ng gobyerno para mapabilis ang paghahatid ng tulong sa mga lugar na sinalanta ng bagyo.