Sun.Star Davao

TYBOX DDS-aster news

- TYRONE VELEZ tyvelez@gmail.com

WHILE the rest of the country have their eyes on Taal, Duterte’s DDS propaganda machine is still fixated with VP Leni Robredo and her donation of pan de sal.

This, and some other actions of people working with or supporting the government are really going against the flow of help for the people of Batangas and Tagaytay.

For this past week, citizens and netizens have all been sharing updates on Taal, the state of evacuees, the history of Taal and the communitie­s, and scientific knowledge about how could Taal impact the lives and agricultur­e in Calabarzon. It’s turning a negative into a positive.

But that’s not what you see on pro-Duterte pages like Mocha Uson Blog and this MindaVote page. They made five posts hitting VP Robredo for donating pan de sal.

You barely see them posting updates, situatione­r, or advisory about Taal. I’m waiting for Mocha to Photoshop a volcano to just show her relevance.

Whether donating pan de sal, or bringing your own media team, is being insensitiv­e, it’s up to the evacuees to say that. But what about these help coming from the presidenti­al office? They gave 3,000 pesos for some evacuees. And they are offering loans worth 25,000 pesos for fisherfolk. Loans, not aid.

And the President, who once made a good appearance in Yolanda, had to prioritize his appearance to the Marines. And offered 50,000 pesos for soldiers who are celebratin­g their birthday. That shows priorities.

Then there is PCOO undersecre­tary Lorraine Badoy who just wanted to make fun of youth activists AnakBayan for soliciting money for the evacuees, calling them opportunis­ts.

Excuse me, Badoy, that is your definition of stealing and opportunis­t? Doesn’t your government have a 16 billion pesos calamity fund this year? And the interior secretary instead is calling for donations? I don’t know what you call that. Perhaps, I may suggest the one calling for donations should be done by the “solicitor” general.

And Badoy, you also sound like a rich brat who have hoarded ice cream and cake for yourself when your neighborho­od is on fire. And when your neighborho­od kids come asking for food, you scream “Stop asking food, you have no right! Mommy! I’m harassed, I want my choco fudge now!”

That is their version of what my friend says “DDS-aster” news. Take note, we are paying Mocha Uson around 130,000 pesos a month as an undersecre­tary for Owwa and Badoy around that same figure. But the way they are doing their job is to highlight the negatives, and diverting our attention from the government’s slow relief drive. Maybe the best news is to take away their salaries and give them to the evacuees, and maybe throw their bad vibes to the volcano. S

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