President of the Philippines vows to remain in typhoon-ravaged area Benigno Aquino is expected to stay in Tacloban, where almost every building was destroyed or damaged by typhoon Haiyan The president of the Philippines has vowed to remain in the area ravaged by typhoon Haiyan until conditions have improved. Benigno Aquino is expected to stay in Tacloban, the battered capital of Leyte province, where almost every building was destroyed or badly damaged by the storm. The decision comes after criticism of the slow pace of the relief effort. theguardian, Sunday 17 November 2013 19.02 GMT The death toll from Haiyan, known locally as Yolanda, rose to 3,974 on Sunday, while the number of displaced people increased to 4 million. We really want to ease the burden of everybody as soon as possible. As long as I dont see any more improvements, well stay here, Aquino said as he visited Tacloban. He said although there had been progress, it was insufficient. His spokesman, Ricky Carandang, said the president wanted to ensure aid distribution was smooth and power returned shortly. At present, the only electricity is produced by diesel generators. There is no running water and insufficient supplies in the tankers brought in. Unicef said generators, fuel and spare parts had allowed partial restoration of the water supply in Tacloban, providing clean water to almost 200,000 people, while it had delivered water purification tablets and tanks to help 45,000 more in the city and another 19,000 in Roxas. Médicins Sans Frontières has reported a growing number of patients with pneumonia and diarrhoea. Despite the massive international relief effort – which includes South Korean, Israeli and Malaysian medics, rescue experts from Luxembourg and Hungary and Finnish motor boats alongside major contributions from the US, Japan and the UK – many remote areas have received only minimal support. US military helicopters have helped ferry packages to distant villages but the UN said some mountainous areas still needed food, with 60% of people in towns in the northeast part of Capiz province going hungry. I remain concerned about the health and wellbeing of the millions of men, women and children who are still in desperate need, UN humanitarian chief Valerie Amos said in a statement. In Cabungaan, a village in Leytes Tanauan district – where as many as 1,200 died – residents said a Sunday delivery from a US helicopter was the first outside help they had received. They had been living on one meal a day, one said. Thousands of Filipinos flocked to damaged churches across the region for their first Sunday mass since the typhoon. The church may have been destroyed, but our faith is intact, as believers, as a people of God, it has not been destroyed, said Reverend Amadero Alvero, who held a service at the Santo Nino church in Tacloban, where rain fell through a gaping hole in the roof. He added: We are being tested by God, to see how strong our faith is, to see if our faith is true. Separately, state media in Vietnam reported that flooding has killed at least 28 people in central regions since Friday, with nine others missing. Around 100,000 houses were submerged and nearly 80,000 people evacuated, according to the government-run committee on floods and storm protection.
Posted on: Mon, 18 Nov 2013 12:42:14 +0000
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