PESANTE NEWS

October 23, 2009

The US-Arroyo’s Gross Criminal Neglect , The GMA Legacy

Los Angeles--The Philippine Peasant Support Network (Pesante-USA)- a US based environmental and peasant advocacy group since 1991 expressed outrage over the criminal neglect and extreme arrogance of the US-Arroyo regime and its hirelings.

Besides coddling the NAPOCOR’s criminal neglect, now that the Arroyo administration is playing dumb and blind to the DWSD’s incompetence.

While donations are rotting in DSWD warehouses, the DSWD is driving the affected people out the relocations centers and forcing them to register.

It is not enough for the US-Arroyo regime to blame the victims but punishing them with such uncalled for sanctions.

It is not the fault of the people that in the two flooding disasters we went through the failure of our disaster response systems was exposed. The PAGASA has no radar system and have relied on the US military bases for information for too long.

Even the much touted “hazard mapping” was not done. If it was dome it was given to foreigners like the UN agencies who took time to map the hazards area.

The UN “urban planning” advisers admitted that they have mapped only 23 of the 77 hazard areas that are prone to landslides, tsunamis and earthquakes. It looks like that they are really waiting for another disaster to happen.

The disasters just compounded by long standing environmental problems and gross mismanagement at all levels. The river systems has not been dredged for years. The drainage system and waterways are as antiquated and cannot compare to the Roman period.

The Laguna Lake ecosystem was totally destroyed and was never dredged and illegal fish pens and subdivisions abode. Large scale deforestration and open pit mining and quarrying destroyed the mountains. And the US-Arryoro regime never cared.

If ever the US-Arroyo left a legacy to the Filipinos, it is its criminal neglect caused the greatest suffering to the Filipino people in Luzon unequalled in the last 40 years of the puppet republic.

But the Filipino people will make her pay for crimes in the years to come.

Melvin Barcenas

Pesante-USA

Los Angeles

October 23, 2009

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