MANILA, Philippines – President Bongbong Marcos Jr. is once again under fire as the hashtag #NasaanAngPangulo trends on various social media platforms as the president has been notably absent in the NDRRMC briefing yesterday and attended only via Zoom virtual conference.
The youth peasant advocacy group National Network of Agrarian Reform Advocates-Youth slammed the ‘slacking’ president and agriculture secretary for his ‘failure to show up’ as the chief executive. “His notable absence in the previous PAGASA briefings and his physical absence during the disaster is a very telling sign that Marcos Jr. has neither sense of urgency nor real intent to do his job as the president of our disaster-stricken country,” said Zoe Caballero, NNARA-Youth National Chairperson.
The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) said more than 930,000 Filipinos have now been affected by Severe Tropical Storm Paeng across 14 out of the 17 regions in the country while the number of fatalities already reached 48.
“All that he did was point fingers at local officials for supposedly failing to prepare for the typhoon’s onslaught; yet, almost 20 hours after his first public appearance via virtual conferencing, we have still not seen Bongbong Marcos in action. The Filipino people do not deserve an absentee leader.”
The Office of the Press Secretary dispelled rumors that the president is in Japan as Paeng slammed the country. “Kung totoong hindi nagpapakasarap sa Japan si Bongbong Marcos habang hinahagupit ng bagyo ang mga Pilipino, bakit ni anino ng presidente hindi pa natin nasisilayan? The Filipino people deserve to know where the president is, and we have the right to hold him accountable. This is not only a matter of incompetence but also of compassion, or lack thereof, by a president who is supposed to ensure the safety and well-being of Filipinos,” said Caballero.
To end, the group reiterated their call to the government to immediately provide relief and aid to Filipinos. “The Department of Agriculture reported P49 million damage and losses in agriculture. Dapang-dapa na naman ang ating mga magsasaka, manggagawang agrikultural, at mangingisda dahil sa sunod-sunod na kalamidad. Dapat agarang umaksyon ang gobyerno, imobilisa ang quick response fund, at irechannel ang mga kontra-produktibong badyet at intel funds tungo sa pangangailangan ng mga magsasaka, pangunahin ang P10,000 cash aid at P15,000 production subsidy,” the peasant advocate ended.