"You are a Romualdez. The President is an Aquino."
This brazen reminder by Mar Roxas to Tacloban Mayor Romualdez during a post-Yolanda meeting show how trapo politics has gotten in the way of emergency response and disaster relief efforts in Tacloban City.
One full video of this Romualdez-Roxas meeting is now on YouTube through C-Talk or Chito Beltran. The recording lasts for 42.56 minutes. Views have jumped to over 100 thousand in one day.
The video is quite a revelation.
First, Mar Roxas appeared concerned only with "pogi points" for PNoy and not at all about immediately retrieving dead bodies or finding more survivors as Mayor Romualdez tried in vain to impress upon him.
Second, Mar was hell-bent on "take-over" instead of providing support to the city government. Mar, a non-lawyer, even tried to explain in a condescending manner to Mayor Romualdez about "de jure" and "de facto" actions of the national government then in relation to the law on disaster management and relief operations or RA 10121.
Mar repeatedly tried to make the clearly agitated and frustrated mayor to admit as "not functioning," followed by his own agenda for "take-over." In short, resign as mayor.
Come to think of it, why did Mar single out Tacloban?
But there is nothing in the law about "take-over" as Mar was so obsessed with.
On the contrary, the exact wording of RA 10121, in mandatory terms, is:
"Section 15. Coordination During Emergencies. - The LDRRMCs shall take the lead in preparing for, responding to, and recovering from the effects of any disaster based on the following criteria:
(a) The BDC, if a barangay is affected;
(b) The city/municipal DRRMCs, If two (2) or more barangays are affected;
(c) The provincial DRRMC, if two (2) or more cities/municipalities are affected;
(d) The regional DRRMC, if two (2) or more provinces are affected; and
(e) The NDRRMC, if two (2) or more regions are affected.
The NDRRMC and intermediary LDRRMCs shall always act as support to LGUs which have the primary responsibility as first disaster responders. Private sector and civil society groups shall work in accordance with the coordination mechanism and policies set by the NDRRMC and concerned LDRRMCs."
Simply put, national government "shall always act as support to LGUs."
And this crucial support was exactly what Mayor Romualdez was asking from the president. For example, the mayor was asking for replacement of police personnel who had died, or had been injured, or could not be accounted for. Of 300 policemen, only 25 were able to report for duty. But, Mar kept on insisting "take-over."
Third, the video reveals yet again Mar's utter incompetence like that of PNoy. Both "leaders" have clearly misread RA 10121. Why do you need to "legalize" national support by local ordinance or mayor's letter of "non-functioning" when that support is already specifically commanded by the law? Verily, Mar had to grope for an answer when asked by Mayor Romualdez what was illegal about the national government helping in restoring peace and order or retrieving dead bodies.
Bottom-line: trapo politics yet again by Mar and PNoy.