|
 "I'm not going to mince words," said Mel Fernandez, the editorial
adviser for the Filipino Migrant News. "We would like every cent to
reach those poor people there rather than getting waylaid."
Corruption is a concern after any major natural disaster, as
millions of dollars in cash and goods rush in from around the world.
But those worries are especially acute in the Philippines, where
graft has been a part of life for decades.
The government of President Benigno Aquino III, who has made
fighting corruption a priority, is promising full transparency in
reconstruction spending in areas devastated by Typhoon Haiyan, known
in the Philippines as Yolanda. It announced Monday that it has
established a website called the Foreign Aid Transparency Hub where
funds given by foreign donors can be tracked.
"There's an urgent call now for us to monitor the movement of
foreign aid funds for Yolanda so they will go exactly where they're
supposed to: to the survivors of the typhoon," Undersecretary of
Budget and Management and Chief Information Officer Richard Moya
said in a statement.
More than $270 million in foreign aid has been donated to help the
victims of the Nov. 8 typhoon, which killed at least 3,976 people
and left nearly 1,600 missing, according to government figures
updated Monday. More than 4 million people have been displaced and
need food, shelter and water. The typhoon also wrecked livelihoods
on a massive scale, destroying crops, livestock, coconut plantations
and fishing boats.
Several battered communities appeared to be shifting from survival
mode to one of early recovery Monday. Markets were reopening, though
with very limited wares. Some gasoline stations were pumping and
residents were repairing damaged homes or making temporary shelters
out of the remains of their old ones.
"The darkest night is over but it's not yet 100 percent," regional
military commander Lt. Gen. Roy Deveraturda said.
On Sunday, Aquino toured the disaster area and promised to step up
aid deliveries.
Aquino said he was happy to see typhoon-battered areas slowly rising
from the devastation. The aid effort remained daunting, he said,
adding that the government is feeding about 1.4 million people a
day.
"One is tempted to despair," Aquino told reporters in Alangalang
town in Leyte province, where he met with officials and survivors.
"But the minute I despair, then everybody gets hampered in the
efforts to get up."
Presidential spokesman Ricky Carandang said Aquino would stay for a
second night in Tacloban city and visit more typhoon-battered towns
on Tuesday.
In one sign of how much work is ahead, Energy Secretary Jericho
Petilla pledged to restore power in all typhoon-battered regions by
Dec. 24, a job that will require erecting about 160 giant power
transmission towers and thousands of electrical posts toppled by the
typhoon. He said he will resign if he fails.
"It's difficult to celebrate Christmas without light," Petilla said.
The government wants to show that it will be more responsible than
previous administrations were following other natural disasters,
when that funds intended for reconstruction were allegedly siphoned
off. Prosecutors are investigating allegations that $20.7 million in
government funds for rebuilding towns devastated by a 2009 storm in
northern Luzon island were stolen by local officials via bogus
nongovernmental agencies.
On Nov. 7, a day before Typhoon Haiyan hit, Filipinos were glued to
their television screens, watching Senate testimony in which Janet
Lim Napoles denied allegations that she masterminded a plot to
plunder millions of dollars of government funds intended for
projects to relieve poverty.
It is far too soon to say how much aid intended for victims of last
week's Typhoon Haiyan might end up in the wrong hands. Foreign
donors demand strict anti-graft measures in projects they fund, but
privately admit that "leakage" of funds is sometimes inevitable.
Much of the assistance in the early phase of a disaster response is
in the form of food, water and other supplies. Far richer
opportunities for graft occur later when rebuilding occurs and
contracts are up for grabs.
But corruption probably has already made this typhoon worse. Money
for roads was diverted, giving people less ability to evacuate.
Hospitals didn't get the resources they should have. Some houses
might not have been flattened if they had been built to code.
[to top of second column] |
"Petty corruption in urban areas means that building inspections
don't happen and building codes are not enforced," said Steven Rood,
the Manila-based representative of The Asia Foundation, a nonprofit
development organization. "Even middle-class homes are not built to
withstand a typhoon, much less poor homes."
Filipinos working abroad and sending money home to their families
are an important source of cash in the country under any
circumstances, but Fernandez, the New Zealand editorial adviser,
expects that they will be skeptical about giving money to the
government. He said he thinks they will simply donate to
nongovernmental agencies providing aid to typhoon victims, but Rood
wasn't certain even of that.
"There's a lot of cynicism, particularly in the expat community,"
Rood said. "People are put off. You see it in the social networks.
People are saying there's no point — if they give money, it will
just get stolen."
The typhoon has come at a time when some feel the Philippines might
finally be cracking down on corruption. In its latest global
corruption report, Transparency International found the Philippines
was just one of 11 countries in which people said they were noticing
an improvement in corruption levels.
Rood said he believes Philippine government agencies like the
Department of Social Welfare and Development are less corrupt than
they once were and can be relied on to take the lead after disasters
like the typhoon.
Doracie Zoleta-Nantes, a Filipino and research fellow at the
Australian National University, said the recent debate in the
Philippines on corruption has been intense and people are demanding
improvements. She said media scrutiny on places like Tacloban, a
city devastated by the typhoon, will help ensure aid gets
distributed.
"But some victims will be marginalized because they are not aligned
politically," she added.
Tecson John Lim, the city administrator in Tacloban, said the city
is recognized for its good governance and its accounts are
transparent. He added that corruption concerns tend to center around
people like cement suppliers, and "right now, you can't even buy
anything."
Valerie Amos, the U.N. humanitarian chief, said in Manila that the
U.N. is not expecting to find widespread corruption as it responds
to the disaster. "Everyone's concern is focused on getting the
maximum aid to the people who need it," she said.
Aid agencies are taking their own precautions to avoid corruption.
Chris Clarke, the chief executive of World Vision New Zealand, has
visited areas affected by the typhoon. He said World Vision has its
own supply chains, collects donations directly, and even issues
microchips to victims to record the amount of aid delivered to them.
"It's always an issue we're asked about," he said. "Does the money
get there, and does it get to the right people?"
___
Online:
Foreign Aid Transparency Hub:
http://www.gov.ph/faith/
[Associated
Press; NICK PERRY and
OLIVER TEVES]
Perry reported from
Wellington, New Zealand. AP writers Teresa Cerajano in Tacloban and
Jim Gomez in Manila contributed to this report.
Copyright 2013 The Associated
Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
