When Typhoon Yolanda ravaged the country a couple of weeks ago, she also spawned feuds. Here are a dozen of them.
1. PNOY vs. TACLOBAN CITY
You don’t kick a city when it’s down, but it sure seemed like President Noynoy Aquino did just that when he said, “Yung Tacloban, hesitant lang ako. Para bang hindi ganun ka-prepared compared to other areas. Siguro I will reserve comments muna at this point in time hanggang mas makumpleto natin yung datos.” Mind you, he made this remark during a National Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council (NDRRMC) briefing.
2. ANDERSON COOPER vs. KORINA SANCHEZ
When the CNN newsman featured the devastation in Tacloban City, he said, “There is no real evidence of organized recovery or relief.” Media personality Sanchez — who’s married to Department of Interior and Local Government Secretary (DILG) Sec. Mar Roxas — apparently didn’t take Cooper’s observation too well. In her radio program, she slammed him, saying, “Sino ba yang Anderson Cooper na yan?” If she was implying that he was a nobody, it only revealed that she hadn’t used a search engine to find out before she asked the not-so-wise question. Cooper then said, “I urge miss Sanchez to come to Tacloban. I’m sure her husband can arrange a flight for her.” (No, dear friends, that last statement is accompanied by the sound of a whip.)
3. MAR ROXAS vs. ALFRED ROMUALDEZ
There were reports saying that the DILG Secretary was attempting to muscle out the Tacloban City mayor. Roxas denied making such a move. In an INQUIRER.net report, Romualdez revealed, “I asked the Secretary. Am I a hindrance? Am I hindering the support or help of the national government? He said no.”
4. LIPA ARCHBISHOP RAMON ARGUELLES vs. THE RH LAW
According to an ABS-CBNNews.com report, Arguelles had pointed out that “disasters could be the result of ungodly laws such as the Reproductive Health (RH) Law.” He stated, “Let us not forget Him. Inaalis natin siya eh, katulad niyan ginagawang batas ang hindi ayon sa loob ng Diyos. So when we oppose God, we are in danger.”
5. PEQUE GALLAGA vs. PNOY
Frustrated by the events in the wake of Typhoon Yolanda, the director wrote a scathing note criticizing the government, in particular, President Noynoy Aquino. One of Gallaga’s most enraged statements is this: “So my friends who accuse me of Aquino bashing: I want you to know that I’m done with your line of thinking. Either you defend this man or you defend the people that this man is ignoring. Don’t believe that the people are his ‘boss.’ This was a piece of advertising sound byte created by showbiz experts to get the unthinking masses out there to swallow this uniquely unqualified man.”
6. MAR ROXAS vs. HIS MOUTH
The DILG Secretary drew flak for many of his seemingly insensitive statements. In an interview with CNN’s Andrew Stevens, he uttered facepalm-worthy gems like “We don’t need much doctors” and “(The corpses) may look like they are the same because they are in the same-looking body bags.” Clearly it was Roxas’ finest moment…in the realm of insensitivity.
7. STEPHEN COLBERT vs. CHINA
In the Nov 14 episode of Colbert’s satirical news show, The Colbert Report, the comedian slammed China for its paltry donation of US$100,000 to Typhoon Yolanda victims. Colbert said, “Let’s kick China’s ass at being compassionate because we are a brotherhood of men!” Colbert then proceeded to top China’s donation. Within a day, he out-donated China and passed the money to Convoy for Hope.
8. PNOY vs. CHIEF SUPERINTENDENT ELMER SORIA
The President got irked when Soria, who headed the Philippine National Police in Region 8, estimated that “around 10,000” may have perished during the onslaught of Typhoon Yolanda. When CNN’s Christiane Amanpour asked PNoy about it, he replied, “Ten thousand, I think, is too much. There was emotional trauma involved with that particular estimate. So far, 2,000 to 2,500 is the figure we are working on as far as deaths are concerned.” Soria was later fired. Unfortunately, the president’s own estimated death toll was also proven wrong. As of 12 noon of Nov 29, the dead are said to be at 5,598. Soria was reinstated on Nov 28.
9. BONG REVILLA vs. THE SUPREME COURT
The actor-senator didn’t directly slam the SC, but he did say, “Well kung meron tayong Priority Development Assistance Funds (PDAF), mas marami sana tayong matutulungan sa mga naapektuhan ng bagyo.” That’s strikes us as a passive-aggressive way of saying, “Damn you, SC for taking away my pork.” In this case, Yolanda was simply an “extra” used to heighten the drama of the senator’s so-called plight.
10. DR. RAQUEL FORTUN vs. THE NATIONAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION
Fortun, who is one of the country’s most renowned forensic pathologists, was incensed when NBI agenst reportedly told her and her colleagues that they weren’t doing the right procedures in identifying the dead bodies in Tacloban. Fortun was naturally offended. She tweeted: “The problem with doing the job right is you make other people look bad.” This issue is still being sorted out.
The problem with doing the job right is you make other people look bad. Returning to manila tomorrow.
— Raquel Fortun (@Doc4Dead) November 22, 2013
11. PNOY vs. KENNETH UY
According to a Rappler report, during a meeting with Tacloban City businessmen just two days after Yolanda hit, Uy told PNoy that he had been threatened at gunpoint by looters. PNoy had reportedly told Uy: “OK lang, buhay ka pa naman (It’s okay, you’re still alive anyway).”
12. TED FAILON vs. PAGASA
On Nov 20, InterAksyon.com reported, “Ted Failon apologized to the Philippine Weathermen Employees Association for citing the death of a weather observer in Tacloban as proof that most weather bureau personnel did not know what a storm surge is.” The weather observer who was presumed dead after she was reportedly swept away during the onslaught of Typhoon Yolanda is Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) employee Salvacion Avestruz. PAGASA officials explained to Failon that Avestruz knew what a storm surge was but she chose to follow their agency’s protocol of never leaving their post.
