Discord

When the popular Thai resort of Phuket and neighboring beach areas around the Andaman Sea were devastated by the tsunami in December 2004, a foreign government asked Bangkok if it wanted help. Thailand’s billionaire prime minister at the time, Thaksin Shinawatra, said no thank you, his country could handle its own emergency.

That foreign government, one of the biggest donors to the ongoing rehabilitation of areas devastated by Super Typhoon Yolanda in the Visayas, has committed to sustain its assistance to the Philippines.

Such assurances should be music to the ears of President Aquino, who the other day asked the international community to sustain assistance for the rebuild, a challenging task that is sure to last well beyond his term.

Unlike the Thais, Pinoys have no problem asking the world for help. In fact I think our government has become too dependent on outside help for many of our needs, from external defense to emergency relief to the distribution of condoms.

When that same foreign government asked us if we needed help in the wake of Yolanda, we readily said yes. I guess P-Noy’s administration is realistic about the nation’s capabilities for relief and rehabilitation.

Thailand did not accept foreign aid for nine months after the tsunami. When Thaksin, the incumbent PM’s brother, finally did, it was from Japan – a $5-million grant funneled through the World Bank for community restructuring projects, with the Thai Finance Ministry acting as overseer. Thaksin’s critics sniffed that while the billionaire PM didn’t need post-tsunami foreign aid, the people in the disaster zones did.

Within two weeks after the tsunami struck on Dec. 26, Thailand embarked on an aggressive marketing campaign to lure back tourists. Many of the thousands who died in the tsunami were visitors from Europe.

Even with the can-do attitude and self-reliance, however, full recovery took several years for Phuket and the six provinces hit by the tsunami.

This should give us an idea of the hard slog ahead for the post-Yolanda reconstruction. The Thais tend to close ranks when national survival and pride are at stake. We saw this during the 1997 Asian financial crisis. Today they have recovered enough from both the Asian crisis and the tsunami to send millions of dollars worth of rice to the Visayas, delivered by their soldiers who were accompanied by a member of their royal family, after Yolanda struck.

In our case, the post-disaster reconstruction is being complicated by political rivalries, the bottom feeders – nasty, nitpicking media critics (like me) – and bickering right within the President’s official family.

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Yesterday P-Noy had to tell his Cabinet members to work as one in the rebuilding as he clarified the role of Panfilo Lacson as presidential assistant for recovery and reconstruction.

Palace officials reiterated that Lacson’s role is to ensure that the reconstruction will be “implemented effectively.”

That task is, of course, open to wide interpretation by both Lacson and the heads of the line departments whose work he is supposed to coordinate.

Palace officials insisted that all was well with the Cabinet. This early, however, you can see Lacson – a maverick in his days as senator – squirming and feeling that he has allowed himself to be put in a straitjacket, with Cabinet colleagues barring him from encroaching on their respective turfs.

The reconstruction plan was drawn up by the National Economic and Development Authority. The implementing agencies for infrastructure are led by the Department of Public Works and Highways. Foreign aid is coursed through the Department of Foreign Affairs and monetary assistance is overseen by the finance department.

What’s Lacson left to do except what he seems to like doing best – sniffing around for fishy activities? There’s one agency that will do Lacson’s bidding, no questions asked: the Philippine National Police. So Lacson has told the PNP Criminal Investigation and Detection Group to investigate reports of anomalies in the construction of bunkhouses for typhoon survivors.

What does the CIDG know about international standards in bunkhouse design? Even Public Works Secretary Rogelio Singson has admitted being unaware of such standards, which Lacson apparently learned from his consultant in the rebuild, architect Jun Palafox.

Now several senators are planning to jump into the fray with an inquiry. Maybe the miffed Singson, whom Palafox praised for integrity the other day, will tender his irrevocable resignation once the senators are done grilling him.

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Foreign governments are used to Philippine political warfare. Their concern is how the fighting might affect their assistance – enormous amounts from both their public and private sectors – and whether the Philippines can effectively utilize the aid.

Several donors are waiting for the Philippine government to present solid proposals for projects and programs that will need foreign funding.

The donors also want to know how much the Philippine government is prepared to contribute to the funding and where the funds will be sourced.

Even in the daang matuwid administration, several foreign governments are coursing their typhoon aid through organizations such as the World Bank and agencies of the United Nations, or directly through reputable non-government organizations that have not been tainted by the pork barrel scam.

“Build back better” has become a mantra in the reconstruction, but the donors aren’t sure if the message is actually registering. The need to immediately restart lives means old ways are also being quickly restored.

Several expats involved in the short-term rehab effort, for example, noted that many of the typhoon victims saw a doctor for the first time in their life only after Yolanda. Should the old situation be restored in this case? “Don’t restore!” one expat emphasized.

Discordant voices in P-Noy’s official family, with the bickering coming out in the open, can only slow down the rebuild. P-Noy must show the world that the nation can get its act together and deserve that avalanche of sympathy and aid.