‘Poe gov’t will care for disaster victims’

TACLOBAN CITY – Citing the various shortcomings of the administration in helping the residents of Leyte recover from Typhoon Yolanda, Sen. Grace Poe started her campaign here with a promise to provide a government that cares for their plight and will deliver on its promises.

“We all have our challenges in life. We lost our loved ones. Many of you lost your homes and belongings. You cannot afford your children’s tuition. You don’t have funds for your farms. We all are going through something,” Poe told an estimated 25,000 people during a rally held here Friday.

Poe highlighted the slow pace of the government in implementing projects for the city and the entire Eastern Samar and Leyte in spite of what the residents there went through in November 2013 when Yolanda hit the country.

“We all know what you went through here in Tacloban. You each have your own stories of recovery. You all serve as examples for our nation because you did not give up,” Poe told the crowd.

Poe lamented the rehabilitation and reconstruction efforts by the government for the province remain sluggish and even hounded by partisan politics.

Tacloban Mayor Alfred Romualdez is the nephew of former first lady Imelda Marcos, whose family has long been at odds with the family of President Aquino.

Poe highlighted the perception of many that the Aquino administration has not made an effort to unite the country by reaching out to its political rivals.

“We do not care if you belong to the opposition or a rival. Anyone who needs assistance will be treated the same,” she added.

Poe said under her “Gobyernong

may Puso” or government with a heart, she will ensure that no parent will have to worry about paying for tuition and the fisherfolk and farmers will be given funding to support their livelihood.

“But above all, the promise of new homes for those who lost their homes, we will give this to you,” Poe said.

With the rain pouring during the middle of her speech, most of the crowd stayed behind with umbrellas waiting for the rally to end.

Poe recalled her adoptive father, the late actor Fernando Poe Jr., received strong support from Leyte when he ran for president in 2004 and that she also garnered support here when she ran for senator in 2013.

Just like her previous sorties, Poe told the crowd that she has been chastised by her rivals for lacking in experience and for being unqualified to run owing to the fact that she is a foundling whose biological parents’ identities are not known.

Poe said these criticisms have not stopped her from pursuing her desire to pursue the presidency in order to do more for the country.

She cited the late president Corazon Aquino, a housewife who assumed the presidency in 1986 without any experience in politics.