Gov't ignoring Mindanao during calamities – Sen. Escudero

KIDAPAWAN CITY, Philippines – Opposition Senator Francis Escudero has criticized the national government for “practically ignoring" Mindanao when calamities hit the region since August. After his visit to towns in North Cotabato that were hit both by flashfloods and armed clashes, Escudero said he felt bad for those civilians who were not able to benefit from the funds released by the national government for calamity victims in the country. Escudero, in an interview over radio dxND, said that in Iloilo province alone, the government released some P15 billion to rehabilitate areas hit by typhoons “Cosme" and “Frank." Escudero said he was told that last month, local leaders and government officials from Mindanao had sought from Malacañang some four billion pesos as relief assistance to victims of armed conflict. “Yet, none of the funds reached Mindanao," he stressed. The North Cotabato provincial government, using its calamity funds, has only released some P4.3 million as relief assistance to more than 70,000 internally-displaced individuals spread in different evacuation sites in the province. Such amount, Cotabato Vice Governor Manny Piñol said, was not enough to satisfy the hunger felt by the evacuees during those difficult times. “If we compute the money released, each family in the evacuation site received only from the provincial government two to three kilograms of rice since August 11," Piñol said earlier. The national government, so far, according to an official from the provincial government, has given less than half-a-million pesos as relief assistance to thousands of evacuees in North Cotabato. The amount was turned over by Health Secretary Francisco Duque when he visited last week Pikit and other conflict areas in North Cotabato. Meantime, heavy rains last July and August have caused flooding in Lambayong, Sultan Kudarat; Cotabato City in Maguindanao; and Libungan, Midsayap, and Pikit towns in North Cotabato. But these areas, according to Escudero, “have been practically ignored by the national government." Until today, most of the low-lying areas in Cotabato City are still waist-deep when the waters from the Rio Grande de Mindanao overflowed after a heavy downpour last week, reports said. Escudero visited Cotabato City, Midsayap, Kabacan, Pikit and Kidapawan City on Thursday and Friday morning. He assured residents, especially those hit by the calamities, that their concerns would be discussed in the Senate in the coming days. - GMANews.TV