Cayetano hits gov’t on El Niño efforts: Stop the lies, excuses

MANILA, Philippines - Senator and vice presidential bet Alan Peter Cayetano Friday slammed Malacañang for allegedly trying to downplay the effects of the El Niño phenomenon that is now severely affecting the livelihood of farmers.

Cayetano took a swipe at the administration for failing to immediately release adequate funds to mitigate the ill effects of the drought in the province.

Malacañang earlier described the senator’s claims as “untrue and unfounded,” adding that since the creation of an El Niño Task Force, enough resources were deployed in affected areas.

Cayetano, however, remained firm in his stand and even accused the administration of lying to the public.

“Governor Mendoza, who happens to be a Liberal Party (LP) member, told us herself during the hearing that their local government wrote a letter to the national government to ask for assistance, but nothing came,” Cayetano said, referring to North Cotabato Governor Emmylou Taliño-Mendoza.

“Tama na palusot at pagsisinungaling. We actually have P45 billion worth of funds in the 2016 budget that may be used for projects that will curb the impact of this crisis. Kung determinado ang Palasyo na resolbahin ito, magagawa nila. Pero bakit kailangan pang sumulat ng lokal na pamahalaan? Bakit maraming magsasaka pa rin ang patuloy na nagugutom at naghihirap,” he added.

Cayetano said thousands of farmers would not have staged a protest and the tragic incident in Kidapawan could have been avoided if the national government had immediately taken action to heed the people’s demands.

 “Pero iniwan ng Palasyo ang mga magsasaka ng Kidapawan. Iniwan nito ang North Cotabato,” Cayetano lamented.

“Pati mga pulis pinabayaan. Wala na ngang sapat na kagamitan gaya ng dispersal equipment, kinasangkapan pa laban sa mga magsasaka," he added.

Cayetano also questioned the absence of Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala in the Senate’s hearing. He said he would have wanted the cabinet member to explain his statement that the areas where the protesting farmers came from did not suffer much from the El Niño.

“Taga-saang planeta si Sec. Alcala at tila may iba siyang bersyon ng realidad? I wanted to ask why he would utter such an insensitive statement. But he didn’t show up at the hearing. This is a national issue, but the national leaders were missing in action,” Cayetano said.