Survivors of Typhoon Ondoy Are Angry

New reports from the Philippine Daily Inquirer are coming in that survivors of Typhoon Ondoy are angry at the lack of aid. Some survivors reported that they were trapped inside their homes or on the roof tops but were ignored by rescue helicopters flying overhead.

Countless people were dismayed by the government failure to come to their aid at the height of the massive floods that swept Metro Manila and nearby provinces at the weekend.

In the wake of Ondoy’s onslaught, the chief of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) had an advice to the public: They have the responsibility to heed storm warnings.

“Instead of just watching soap operas on TV, they should also watch the news,” Dr. Prisco Nilo said. He said Pagasa had issued flood warnings as early as Thursday and even raised storm signals the following day.

That's funny, since I was born, I've never seen PAGASA or any government entity put up emergency advisories or public service announcements on what to do during a typhoon. Most of them just put a ticket at the bottom of TV entertainment shows which most people ignore since they're too busy watching Wowowee or their telenovela.

They've never even shown on TV on what to prepare in case of an emergency. It's always like "you're on your own".

I guess I can't blame people too. Since I was young, PAGASA always seems to have a wrong prediction on the weather. They say it's a typhoon, but what comes out is a sunny day. When they say it's sunny, a big rainfall comes. I guess people feel PAGASA is like the boy who cried wolf. Now, the wolf really came and nobody heeded the warning.

On some social networking sites like Facebook, people were also angry at the government.

“It’s really incredible that the Arroyo government had even thought of buying a new presidential jet,” said writer Elmer Gatchalian, who posted the remark on Facebook.

“You (in the government) should have allotted funds for disaster preparedness. It was reported (Saturday) night that there were only two rubber boats being used for rescue operations in Marikina. We could have at least invested in a helicopter that could pick people up from rooftops.”

Another post by Gatchalian referred to the supposedly lavish dinner President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and her party had in New York on their recent US visit.

“The million pesos spent on that grand dinner in New York should have been used to buy rubber boats instead.”

Some people said that the flood reminded them of great flood in the Bible and Noah's Ark. The epic flood was a great equalizer to both rich and poor making them evacuees.

The Quezon City government failed to provide assistance and was not prepared for the calamity.

A resident of Agno Street, where a fire broke out during the height of the flood, expressed his anger at local politicians who, he said, used the disaster to enhance their ambitions.

The resident, who did not give his name, pointed to a tent put up near the fire site manned by people wearing T-shirts bearing the politician’s name. They were distributing cups of porridge to the victims.

“The government boasted of billions of pesos of surplus and yet until now they could not even extend a decent meal and mats for the victims,” he said.

What else is new?