Escudero defends Sorsogon LGU, says relief workers ‘doing the best they can’

Senator Chiz Escudero defended his typhoon-hit home province Sorsogon on Saturday over reports of slow relief operations there, saying the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) officials and other relief workers are "doing the best that they can" and "are coping quite well".

A "24 Oras" report on Friday said that Sorsogon had "yet to establish proper relief channels to deliver assistance to its constituents affected by the storm" three days after Typhoon Glenda battered Southern Luzon.



This relatively slow disaster response was attributed to the absence of both Sorsogon's governor and vice governor.

A previous report said that Governor Raul Lee is "serving a 90-day suspension in connection with graft charges related to the P729-million fertilizer fund scam", and Vice Governor Antonio Escudero Jr., the senator's uncle, was "reportedly ill".

"Given the circumstances, the DSWD and relief workers are doing the best that they can and are coping quite well. It's concentrated in the areas of [Prieto] Diaz, Sorsogon City, and Gubat,"  Escudero said in a text message to GMA News Online on Saturday morning.

"In fact, they are already slowly proceeding to clean up and rehab," he added.

Meanwhile, some areas in nearby Albay province are already going "back on business" from Typhoon Glenda, Albay Governor Joey Salceda said through Facebook posts and photos on Thursday.

"Forty-eight hours after Typhoon Glenda Guinobatan Albay clears all rubles [sic] and proceed with life as usual as it prepares for its town fiesta and festival," Salceda said in a photo album updated on Thursday.

"The capacity to bounce back, regroup and proceed with life in the shortest time possible as shown by the people of Libon in Albay is remarkable. Farmers proceed with what is usual and necessary in the midst of fallen trees and destroyed houses," he said in another album.

Board member Jun Escudero said in a previous report that the local government is doing its best to deliver relief supplies and other needs but as of now residents have to rely on their respective mayors and Local Government Units, the previous report said.

Residents of Sorsogon need food, potable water, clean clothes and mats, the report added. — JDS, GMA News