Rebuilding of areas ‘doable’: ex-senator

DPA/Manila

A former senator and national police chief will head the Philippine government’s nearly $1bn programme to rebuild areas devastated by Typhoon Haiyan, a presidential spokesman said yesterday.

Panfilo Lacson, 65, will oversee the government’s rehabilitation and reconstruction efforts, said presidential spokesman Herminio Coloma.

“They said it will be very hard but doable,” Lacson told reporters. “The important word for me is doable. It is a huge challenge but when you see the destruction even on television, you will feel disheartened and a desire to help.”

Haiyan, one of the most powerful storms ever to make landfall, flattened cities and towns in the eastern Philippines with winds of more than 300 kilometres per hour, triggering storm surges as high as five metres.

The typhoon killed at least 5,670 people and left 1,761 missing, the national disaster relief agency said. More than 26,000 were injured and over 4mn people displaced after 1.17mn houses were destroyed. Damage to infrastructure and agriculture was estimated at 34.36bn pesos ($799mn), the agency added.

Lacson was a well-known crime fighter when he was appointed the country’s police chief in 1999. He became a senator in 2001, and led a campaign against graft and corruption. His second term as a senator ended in June 2013.

The Aquino administration has proposed the allocation of 40.9bn pesos ($940mn) for the rehabilitation of ravaged communities in the eastern and central Philippines, especially the worst-hit provinces of Leyte, Samar and Eastern Samar.