PERISCOPE
Working LGU officials shielded vs. whiners
Interior and Local Government Secretary Ronnie Puno took the cudgels for embattled local government officials working quietly in the disaster areas when he rightly pointed out in a Camp Crame meeting that couch potato critics and professional faultfinders—if they have nothing better to do—should stop carping and whining.
RONNIE: No time for carping, whining
Deep in the disaster-stricken areas, it is the mayors and governors who have been leading the rescue efforts, quietly and almost heroically. Stricken by fatigue, loss of relations and constituents, and the need to allocate so limited a resources amid so much demand, the mayors and the governors have working 24/7 and they are visible at the forefront of whatever is needed to be done to save lives and communities.
Puno said the professional carpers and whiners should leave the comfort of their air-conditioned rooms and plush offices to check what is going on at evacuation centers, in the government gymnasiums and sports centers where there is a deluge of evacuees, in towns and barrios isolated from the rest of their world by infrastructure damage.
There you will find the comforting presence of LGU officials as they multi-task: handing out relief bags, marshalling rubber boats to pluck people from their rooftops, or personally leading the rescue and relief efforts themselves.
The last thing in the minds of most LGU leaders at this time is getting public recognition for these work. After all, these are your people and this is your town or province.
Puno was once tempted to give the necessary appreciation, such as “Gov., Mayor, you are doing one heck of a job.” But the tragic backdrop was not an appropriate place and time for recognizing heroism.
On the whole the official response to Ondoy and Pepeng was swifter, more comprehensive and more coordinated than the US government’s response to Hurricane Katrina.
The national government and the LGUs have been a visible presence in the disaster-stricken areas, said Puno. From reining-in profiteers, to rescuing people, to providing relief and up to issuing official proclamations and guidelines, the national government and the LGUs have been with the disaster-stricken areas from Day 1 of Ondoy and are still with the suffering areas of Pangasinan, Northern Luzon and the Cordillera Administrative Region reeling from Pepeng.
The only thing that is out of sync is the usual grating voices of the whiners and the carpers.
Puno also struck a very familiar chord when he lamented the usual rearing of politics’ ugly head even amid the great suffering of much of Luzon.
The administration critics did not even wait for things to settle down to normal before unleashing their standard vitriol–the usual script about government’s lack of readiness and competence to deal with disasters.
The professional kibitzers would rather complain than help, Puno lamented, with their usual polluted dialogue.
If there is a non-partisan, unbiased appraisal of the rescue, relief and rehabilitation efforts from the NG and the LGUs, we should take it from the United Nations. Jacqueline Badcock, UN Resident Representative, who described the efforts as “inspirational.”
During the launch of the Manila Flash Appeal for disaster rehabilitation aid from the international donor community, she noted the “sense of unity from the higher levels of government to the village communities.”
Anne Veneman, executive director of the UN Children’s Fund, said during the same event that the government’s efforts, despite the overwhelming odds, were commendable.
The two also lauded the efforts of NGOs and individuals, the out-of-government efforts and the efforts of humanitarian agencies such as the Red Cross.
Puno confronted the coach potato critics to give a sense of balance to the unjust, venomous and unfair criticisms of the LGU leaders.
Put up or shut up, was Puno’s challenge to the professional carpers. To those damning the rescue and relief efforts for partisan gain, Puno has a rejoinder. This is not the time for politics. Find something worthwhile to do.
Filed under: 2010 elections, DILG, RONNIE PUNO, SENATORS, vice president | Tagged: local governance, local officials, ondoy, pepeng, relief operations, RONNIE PUNO
