MANILA, Philippines (UPDATED) - President Benigno Aquino said a fact-finding team has been tasked to investigate how tropical storm Sendong caused a disaster in the southern Philippines.
Aquino, in an exclusive interview with ABS-CBN News' Lynda Jumilla that aired on ANC Tuesday night, said he will wait for the team's report to determine accountability for the tragedy.
He said the national government was not caught asleep by the storm.
"Government was not caught flat-footed at the height of Sendong. We were ready to assist," he said.
Aquino said the Office of Civil Defense, the Department of Social Welfare and Development, and the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council did their work in responding to the Sendong disaster.
Aquino said that before the flashfloods occurred, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources had already warned the Cagayan de Oro local government about the danger threatening Isla de Oro.
The community, which was built on a sandbar, was wiped out by flashfloods at the height of the storm.
He added that the Department of Science and Technology is launching an educational campaign on effects of amount of rainfall to help local government units prepare for storms and typhoons.
"Nag-iisip tayo lagi ng hangin, di nag-iisip ng lakas ng ulan," the President said.
Sendong was carrying "very heavy rainfall of over 50mm/hr (~2 inches)" when it hit northern Mindanao, according to the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM), a joint project between the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).
In comparison, Ondoy dumped 56.83mm/hr of rainfall on Metro Manila in September 2009.
Illegal logging
Aquino also believes that illegal logging was one of the reasons behind the disaster.
He said that while the Palace was enforcing a logging ban nationwide through an executive order, logging activities continued in Iligan.
"Mayroong authority from the [previous] ARMM [Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao] government [that allowed logging]," Aquino said.
"I have tasked ARMM OIC[officer-in-charge], concerned agencies to start ensuring logging ban is imposed," he added.
He shrugged off criticisms that he was not visible during the early days of the disaster.
"Nginingitian ko nalang mga kritisismo. I'm not one to grandstand, mag photo-op [opportunity]," he said.
"Kung ang Presidente kailangan pumunta sa disaster area para may kumilos, palpak ang Presidenteng iyon," he added.
Meanwhile, Presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda defended the Palace in response to on a report that government officials ignored warnings from environmentalists about a looming natural disaster.
"It was early on in the administration and, as you know, we were really trying to do a lot of efforts at that time. We were doing a lot of clearing of the landmines and the situation right now has made it emphatic for us to look into and as well as for the local government units to seriously look into the hazard areas in their respective units and it's something that we, the national government and the local governments of the respective local governments should work at," Lacierda said. - with reports from Willard Cheng, ABS-CBN News; ANC
