Palace: We welcome criticism, suggestions

MANILA, Philippines - The government is open to suggestions to hasten the rehabilitation of areas ravaged by Super Typhoon Yolanda and improve the lives of typhoon survivors, Malacañang said yesterday.

Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. of the Presidential Communications Operations Office said over state-run dzRB the government welcomes suggestions to address flaws or inadequacies in the implementation of rehabilitation programs.

The government had been criticized for the slow pace of the rehabilitation amid allegations of corruption and politicking.

Coloma said it is important that nobody would be left behind in the efforts of the government to restore normalcy in the lives of the people affected by the storm.

“We will come up with the best solution to attend to the needs of displaced survivors and ease the inconvenience they are experiencing,” he said.

He added that safety is the most important consideration and people must not return to areas that are known to be at risk.

Coloma said the national government is one with the public in the effort to restore the livelihood of the people in the affected areas even as it continues to coordinate with concerned local government units.

Coloma called on the public to practice bayanihan to help the government rebuild the lives and damaged homes of the typhoon victims.

He said the devastation wrought by Yolanda in at least 81 provinces is “too wide and deep” and the government needs all the help it could get.

Don’t look at us

Meanwhile, Social Welfare and Development Secretary Corazon Soliman has expressed exasperation over questions on the multi-million dollar donations to Yolanda victims.

In an interview in Tacloban City where she inspected government projects, Soliman said international non-government organizations (NGOs) and not the government should account for around $850 million of this foreign aid.

“I have already called on them to make a public accounting of where they spent the huge funds they received…The government is being asked where the donations went… but it did not pass through the government,” she said.

“What went to us are goods like the tents... But the money, we never handled any of it,” she added.

She said at least 55 percent of the donations went to the United Nations and around 40 percent went to international NGOs.

Soliman said international NGOs should be ready to account for the Yolanda aid in the same way that the DSWD has answered questions regarding government funds for Yolanda.

“We are always ready to explain. However, we cannot explain what we never handled,” she said. –With Rainier Allan Ronda