Roxas skips Yolanda projects inspection

ORMOC CITY, Philippines – Local Government Secretary Mar Roxas visited this city during the first year commemoration of typhoon Yolanda but did not inspect his office’s Rehabilitation After Yolanda projects.

The Ormocanons, who were queuing under the heat of the sun just to see him along the route towards the project sites, when Roxas balked at the last minute from the scheduled visit.

“I thought he was Mister Palengke, but why did not stop here at the market?” a spice vendor was overheard commenting in the dialect over the secretary’s action. “I think he was just Atik ra siguro na iya”, answered another vendor besides him.

The market vendors did not hide their displeasure over Roxas when they later learned that the secretary opted to visit a relocation site, some 12 kilometers away, instead of the public market which has an ongoing rehabilitation work under DILG.

Days leading to the commemoration, every sector in the market area, including the officers of all sections and those involved in the daily operations were upbeat of the impending visit, expecting to see and shake hands with Roxas.

They were all disappointed however by the abrupt change of itinerary, suspecting as a result the sincerity of Roxas towards the masses. “I thought he is pro-poor as he projected it to be. Probably he is more at home with rich people in a relocation project than talking people in the community–oriented projects of the DILG”, a food park stall holder said.