Surigao City Newspaper

Aquino assures flood victims of government help

DAVAO CITY -- President Benigno Aquino III on Wednesday visited flood-ravaged Cotabato City to personally check the condition of flood victims and to inspect ongoing dredging operations at the Rio Grande de Mindanao River.

The President conducted aerial inspection over the provinces of North Cotabato and Maguindanao, which were also hit by massive floods, and visited the Delta Bridge where dredging is being undertaken due to the build-up of water hyacinths.

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In an interview, Aquino said he was not aware of the problem on water lilies and he wanted to address it.

"The government will definitely help you, and the LGUs (local government units) to resolve the problem on water hyacinths," he said in a press briefing, adding that the clearing and removal of water lilies were still ongoing.

President Aquino also led the distribution of relief goods for the flood victims in Cotabato City.

He ordered the Department of Social Welfare and Development and the Department of Health to ensure that all basic needs of families such as blankets, food supplies, medicines, and potable water in the evacuation centers are being addressed.

Aquino added that he will ask the Department of the Interior and Local Government and the Department of Science and Technology to conduct feasibility studies on the possibilities of using water lilies as possible bio-fuel source.

Joining the President during his trip were Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin and National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) Executive Director Benito Ramos.

Dredging

Meanwhile, the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) sent an emergency response team to assist efforts to remove water lilies and other debris that have clogged the Rio Grande de Mindanao and have caused massive flooding in Cotabato and nearby areas.

The dispatched team, called DPWH-President's Bridge Program Office (PBPO), is composed of personnel and various units of heavy equipment, Public Works Secretary Rogelio Singson said Wednesday.

Trailer trucks from the PBPO Tagoloan Depot in Cagayan de Oro City have already delivered a backhoe, a crane, and 12 barge components to bring the dredging fleet to Cotabato City.

Dredging begun Wednesday, Singson added.

Military and civilian personnel both from local and national levels have also participated in clearing the waterway using two watermaster dredgers.

SURIGAO Today: Opinion: Incorruptible public servants?

It couldn't have come at a more opportune time. After over a year in office, PNoy finally unveiled a so-called road map for the next five years of his administration after which he expects to end his watch with a grateful nation saying there goes a man who was true to his words; he prevailed against all odds and eradicated corruption in all forms in our government. It is by this measure and nothing else that the Aquino administration shall be judged And so in spelling out his 16-point agenda during the celebration of the 120th anniversary of our Independence, President Aguino did only what was expected in line with his oft-repeated avowal that we the people are his bosses. Indeed, this agenda can't be anything but P-Noy's social compact or, in olden time, blood compact with us. It's only proper in the face of growing skepticism about his sincerity and ability to deliver on his election promise that he shall govern "sa matuwid na daan." The precarious plunge of his approval rating is an ominous indicator of the popular discontent. It seems only the worse, not the best, lies ahead. PNoy has to deliver or else end up no better than his predecessor ug bakakon gihapon. We can't spell out the entire agenda here. We just have to leave it to your own initiative and interest to go over them one by one. I tell you every single one is vital to our collective interest as a people and that of our Inang Bayan whose independence and liberation were paid dearly with the blood of our heroes and martyrs. For me, what are paramount and urgent, not that the others are less important, are the following: incorruptible president; incorruptible public servant; and rule of law and good governance. Through these three agenda, we shall be able to judge whether what we have is nothing but empty blah-blah or a genuine declaration of intention by the President. Here in Surigao del Norte we shall see the litmus test of PNoy's sincerity and political will through his stand on recent cases filed against three prominent local and provincial officials, all of whom are ostensibly his political bedfellows. If you notice last Friday's headline story in this newspaper, you will probably be shocked and scandalized, to say the least. The governor, Sol S. Matugas, and her husband, Rep. Francisco T. Matugas (1st District), have been charged before the Ombudsman with graft for "allegedly depositing nearly P4 million in public funds to their personal bank accounts.

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