'Kung gusto may paraan': VP camp hits Duterte absence amid 'Ulysses'
MANILA, Philippines — Vice President Leni Robredo's spokesman on Sunday said leaders should be seen and felt in times of crisis in an apparent comment on the government's response to Typhoon Ulysses, which had left many asking for help in submerged provinces.
The Duterte administration has found itself at the center of criticism for its handling of twin typhoons to ravage the country in November: Rolly, the world's strongest this 2020 and Ulysses, with scores dead and millions affected in the Luzon island.
Many took to social media to ask about President Rodrigo Duterte's whereabouts as Ulysses wreaked havoc, which had since turned to Twitter hashtags such as #NasaanAngPangulo. When he finally addressed the public after the storm's battering, he sought to reassure that government was on top of the situation but also remarked that he wanted to "swim" to reach typhoon victims but his security wouldn't let him.
Laywer Barry Gutierrez on the vice president's weekly radio show made a comparison of the country's two leaders, with Robredo leading her own office's response on the ground while Duterte remained at Malacañang.
"Sabi nga Ka-Ely, kung talagang gusto may paraan. Pero kung ayaw gawin eh maraming dahilan," he said. "Kung tatanungin mo 'yung security sasabihin niyan kung maari 'wag na [pero] nandoon na sa mismong principal kung tutuloy siya o hindi."
(You know what they say, if there's a will, there's a way. But you would have a lot of reasons if you wouldn't want to. And if you ask your security detail, they would say no but it all depends on the principal if they would push through or not.)
Photos had shown the president in an aerial inspection of the areas ravaged by the typhoon. His actual visit — scheduled today — comes days after Ulysses hit.
Duterte had made a second address on the ongoing crisis yesterday, but nothing new came out apart from announcing that he was creating another task force for the response, whose functions overlap with another agency already existing for the job.
By Saturday, disaster officials were reporting over 1.1 million persons in eight regions affected by Ulysses, with 37 dead, 22 injured and at least 15 missing.
Some 80,858 families or 306,340 are currently in evacuation shelters and the cost of damage now at nearly P1 billion for agriculture and P253.1 million for infrastructure.
Gutierrez added that apart from distributing relief and directing agencies, officials should also learn to listen to the experiences of typhoon victims in their visits.
"Alalahanin natin na hindi lang naman pisikal na tulong ang kailangan," he said. "Importante sa tingin ko 'yung pakiramdam na hindi ka nakalilimutan nang inyo mismong pamahalaan...na mayroon kang gobyerno na patuloy na nagbabantay at susuporta sa'yo."
(We must remember that not only physical help is needed. It's important too that the public remember that they are not forgotten by their government, that they have leaders who would continue to watch over them and support them.)
Criticism over Duterte's seeming absence first came up early this month, when then Super Typhoon Rolly hit most of the Bicol Region and Quezon Province and aside from his spokesman's pronouncements, the public only heard from Duterte a day after the storm passed.
The president had since hit back at his critics, with Palace spokesperson Harry Roque suspecting that such calls are part of the opposition's ploy to discredit Duterte.
Roque further justified Duterte's absence during the press briefing on Typhoon Ulysses, stressing that all concerned agencies are doing their jobs. Duterte attended the virtual 37th Association of Southeast Asian Nations Summit at the time.
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