A CITY official of Dagupan was all praises for President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo for coming to Pangasinan on July 4 to personally check the progress of rehabilitation and reconstruction activities in the province in the aftermath of Typhoon ‘Cosme’.

Vice Mayor Belen Fernandez, who was acting mayor at the time President Arroyo came to Pangasinan, said she was impressed by how Mrs. Arroyo handles emergency situations, as she had witnessed during her July visit here.

“She’s a hands-on President. She does not want to act on mere documentation submitted to her. She wanted to see what was really happening on the ground,” said Vice Mayor Fernandez.

Fernandez was among the many local officials who joined the meeting with the President and officials of the Regional Disaster Coordinating Council (RDCC) on July 4 at the provincial capitol in Lingayen.

That was the third visit of the President to Pangasinan since Typhoon Cosme hit the province.

The vice mayor saw how the President got irked during her meeting with RDCC members and se-veral mayors confirmed that the Chief Executive was visibly angry over the slow delivery of her promised assistance for Pangasinan.

In the meeting, most of the mayors had complained of the failure of the national government to deliver the promised galvanized iron sheets and other construction materials for the typhoon victims who lost their homes more than one-month and a half after Typhoon Cosme.

Since Arroyo made the promise, only 17,800 G.I. sheets out of the P500,000 worth of G.I. sheets and construction materials promised by the President to the typhoon victims of Pangasinan, arrived in Lingayen.

The first shipment on June 2 consisted of 4,800 G.I. sheets were distributed in Dagupan, Bugallon and Infanta.

Mayor Kimi Cojuangco of Sison called the attention of President Arroyo on the absence of assistance for the reconstruction and rehabilitation of damaged school buildings in her town, despite the release of the budget for rehabilitation for damaged classrooms in Pangasinan II school division last May.

Fernandez said Cojuangco complained of the pathetic conditions of school children in Sison who had to attend classes in makeshift classrooms erected by barangay officials and parents of pupils.

Cojuangco and other town officials in sixth, fifth and fourth districts were in the dark on how much would be given by Pangasinan II school division to rebuild their schools.

Rep. Mark Cojuangco of the fifth district, who was in that meeting, said he will allocate part of his Priority Development Assistant Fund (PDAF) if the fund provided by DepEd for reconstruction and repair of damaged classroom is insufficient.—LM

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