ANDA–The mayor of this island municipality, one of the hardest hit by Typhoon Emong last May 7, decries the absence of any assistance from the national government almost a month after the calamity.

“I don’t understand the national government why wala pa siyang sinasabi kung ano ang gagawin nila sa amin,” Mayor Nestor Pulido said last week.

He said Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro, who also chairs the National Disaster Coordinating Council and visited the town immediately after the typhoon, promised to work out assistance for the town from the national government.

“We really need that, we can’t just do it on our own,” said Pulido, adding that funds from the local government are simply not enough to cover the extent of the damage.

So far, Teodoro delivered only 300 sacks of rice while Social Welfare and Development Secretary Esperanza Cabral gave 1,000 relief packs and some used clothes.

Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap, who was in the province two weeks ago, also told Pulido that his office might help the affected bangus raisers whose fish pens and cages were damaged by the typhoon with about P20 million.

But Pulido stressed that the operative word in Yap’s promise is apparently “might”. The mayor has wondered why the national government has not given his town as much attention as when another major calamity, Typhoon Cosme, devastated other parts of Pangasinan in May 2008.

But Pulido was profuse with gratitude to individuals and private groups that extended assistance to his community, including Presidential Anti- Smuggling Group Chief Antonio Villar Jr., Makati City Mayor Jejomar Binay, and the Rotary Club.#

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