Lacson is the demolition czar, unworthy of reconstruction job

By People Surge
April 4, 2014

TACLOBAN CITY – The czar of demolition, not reconstruction, is the correct job description for Sec. Panfilo Lacson, the People Surge alliance of Typhoon Yolanda survivors said today.

“To say reconstruction would be assuming the restoration of something too good to be missed,” said Sr. Edita Eslopor, People Surge spokesperson. “But we are sorry to say that post-Yolanda in Eastern Visayas, that would be just restoring urban misery surrounded by the sea of countryside poverty. Sec. Lacson makes that much, much worse by doing the coup de grace after the storm by banning the poor from returning to coastal communities, while saddling the peasants with heavier debts through microfinancing. Thus we are compelled to say Sec. Lacson is a czar of demolition and not reconstruction.”

Eslopor criticized Lacson and his implementation of the Reconstruction Assistance for Yolanda (RAY). “Lacson and RAY deserve each other, since the Aquino government had to appoint a man known for his strong-arm methods because of RAY's unpalatability. The unfairness of the No-Build Zone policy, the paltry regard for the peasants who will receive debts not aid, these are grounds for social upheaval. On the other hand, the RAY is generous to local big business and foreign banks that will benefit from the massive spending on infrastructure, despite the more pressing and strategic need to address the damage cause by Yolanda on agriculture. The RAY is patterned on the “Build Back Better” scheme in Haiti and other underdeveloped countries stricken with calamities. It is meant to perpetuate the rule of local tyrants and their foreign masters.”

The People Surge spokesperson said Lacson is part of the “Gang of Five” composed of President Aquino and other high officials who are in charge of rehabilitation and reconstruction. “Despite the people's outrage and demand for accountability, Sec. Lacson has never consulted the Yolanda survivors despite the enormous implications of the task assigned to him. He has overseen the unkind diaspora of urban poor and rural poor from the coastal communities. He has pushed for more chaos by directing that reconstruction funds go directly to local government units, which will especially benefit the allies of the government in preparing for the election, There is not an iota of sense in giving funds to local government incapable of doing significant reconstruction and in light of the large-scale damage demanding a national effort.”