By SAMMY JULIAN
Manila News Bureau Chief
MANILA – The government will implement the reconstruction plan of communities devastated by super typhoon “Yolanda” (international name: Haiyan) based on its own schedule and not because Pope Francis will visit the country next year.
“If you’re suggesting that what we’re doing right now is for show, no it’s not,” Presidential Spokesperson Edwin Lacierda said.
He was reacting to claims that the Aquino administration is deliberately hastening the rehabilitation works in typhoon-hit communities in time for the arrival of the Pope.
“We’re not going to do this because Pope Francis is coming here. We’re going to do this because that is required from government to build back better,” he stressed.
According to Lacierda, Rehabilitation Secretary Panfilo Lacson has been “on the ground working hard to ensure that the programs, the rehabilitation and reconstruction moves as it should be.”
He noted that the announcement that the Pope will visit the Philippines came only recently “so that was not part of the equation when government was doing all these things.”
Based on reports, Pope Francis may visit Tacloban City, one of the worst-hit areas by the killer storm last November, during his stopover in the country sometime in January next year.
Lacierda stressed that the government is determined to stick to its schedule for the “building-back-better” scheme in the disaster-hit communities.
“If you are implying that we will be hurrying up the five months, no, it’s a build-back-better scheme,” he declared. “We wanna make sure that the homes are built better; and so it will take (time)–we’ll ensure the reconstruction of all this housing is not time bound to the arrival of the Pope.”/PN
