28 June 2011

War with water hyacinths

President Abnoy should have declared war with the water hyacinths clogging the Cotabato River not with the City Mayor Japal Guiani Jr. People in that area need immediate help not political speeches, photo ops and short term solutions like giving away goods. What disappointed the people is when President Abnoy said that he’s still thinking of ways to solve the problem and that people should not really expect anything because his administration is barely one year old.

When President Abnoy’s entourage left, Mayor Guiani confirmed that they never received any assistance from Malacañang. That includes the 7 million worth of relief goods stated by the corrupt head Dinky Soliman. In the end, the corrupt Dinky Soliman admitted giving the assistance to the politicians closer to them, the Vice Mayor Muslimin Sema and Congresswoman Sandra Sema and only gave 2,000 bags to Mayor Guiani.

President Abnoy and his mouthpieces slammed mayor and even went out of their way to call him a liar. The President in fact did not bring with him additional aid and did not even offer solutions to the problem. The problem with people in Malacañang is, the more they protect their boss, the more they became vulnerable.

Over 40,000 people are said to be displaced from their homes because of the flooding. In fact, the 7 million budget given by the DSWD is not enough. Malacañang should be less confrontational when accused by the local leaders in Cotabato. They should know that the mayor is in the frontline and the firing line. People expect him to deliver and he can’t do that by himself. He can only do so much and he doesn’t need President Abnoy there if he can’t do anything to help the people in distress. Calling the good mayor a liar was way below the belt.

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