CABUNGAAN, Philippines, Nov 17 (Reuters) - Mobbed by hungryvillagers, U.S. military helicopters dropped desperately neededaid into remote areas of the typhoon-ravaged centralPhilippines, as survivors of the disaster flocked to ruinedchurches on Sunday to pray for their uncertain future. The Philippines is facing up to an enormous rebuilding taskfrom Typhoon Haiyan, which killed at least 3,974 people and left1,186 missing, with many isolated communities yet to receivesignificant aid despite a massive international relief effort. Philippine authorities and international aid agencies face amounting humanitarian crisis, with the number of peopledisplaced by the catastrophe estimated at 4 million, up from900,000 late last week. President Benigno Aquino, caught off guard by the scale ofthe disaster and criticised by some for the sometimes chaoticresponse, visited affected areas on Sunday. Not for the firsttime, he sought to deflect blame for the problems onto localauthorities whose preparations he said had fallen short. In Guiuan, a hard-hit coastal town in eastern Samarprovince, he praised the city mayor for conducting a properevacuation that had limited deaths to less than 100, saying thatwas a contrast to other towns. In other places, I prefer not to talk about it. As yourpresident, I am not allowed to get angry even if I am alreadyupset. Ill just suffer through it with an acidic stomach, saidAquino. Until I am satisfied with what I am seeing, I will stayhere for a while.
Posted on: Sun, 17 Nov 2013 14:28:28 +0000
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