- Mayor Alfred Romualdez claimed the Aquino government ordered the cutting of water supply to Yolanda bunkhouses by end of April
- The Tacloban mayor said the government plan would further hamper the government efforts to rebuild the city
- He added ‘Yolanda’ victims depended on water rationing for two years and now it will be abruptly stopped
MANILA, Philippines – The Aquino government allegedly ordered that the water supply to the relocation sites of typhoon Yolanda victims in Tacloban City be cut-off by end of April, this was according to Mayor Alfred Romualdez.
Speaking at the Kapihan sa Manila Hotel, Romualdez said the latest deplorable move by the government would only seek to hamper the efforts of the local government already saddled with the herculean task of rebuilding the city.
“After thousands of our people have transferred to the relocation sites and bunkhouses, for the past two years, they have yet to see a faucet. The water for cooking and drinking is still being rationed,” Christine F. Herrera of The Standard quoted Romualdez as saying.
The Tacloban mayor added he vehemently opposed the plan to stop the rationing of water to Yolanda victims’ bunkhouses.
“And now, they wanted to stop the water rationing. I strongly reject that. It’s like killing them all over again and the culprit would be water again, after thousands perished in floodwaters and seawater,” the mayor said.
Romualdez has been at odds with the national government which he accused of deliberately ignoring their plea for assistance in the aftermath of ‘Yolanda’.
He recalled the government declaring a no-fly zone over Tacloban while Aquino was in the city, leaving helicopters and planes carrying medical supplies and relief goods from the United States unable to land.
He added it was only Senator Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos, a cousin of his, which defied the order and insisted on bringing the relief assistance to the typhoon victims.
His request to beef up the security amid the rampant looting after ‘Yolanda’ was supposedly met with indifference as President Aquino told him ‘he’ll think about it.’
“Our people have been traumatized enough. Enough already,” Romualdez lamented.
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