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Filipinos happy with disaster response

Survey gives Aquino administration high marks for preparedness
Filipinos happy with disaster response
Many parts of the Philippines have seen severe flooding in recent months (Photo by Anthony Bayarong)
Published: September 26, 2012 08:59 AM GMT
Updated: September 26, 2012 08:59 AM GMT

Filipinos have given the government a high pass mark for disaster preparedness, according to a new survey. In a country that suffers regular tropical storms and flooding, particularly in recent years, pollster Pulse Asia found that citizens gave the administration of President Benigno Aquino a healthy 85 percent, or very good, for preparedness and 80 percent, or good, for speed and effectiveness of its responses. The pass mark is 75 percent. Ronald Holmes, president of Pulse Asia, said the results showed that across different geographic areas and classes within the country, the government enjoys “essentially the same passing grades on all issues.” But at the local level authorities did much worse with just 58 percent expressing satisfaction with the response of local governments, while the Visayas registered a satisfaction rate of just 46 percent. At the end of June, Rosa Perez, a climate expert at the Manila Observatory, said the path of tropical cyclones had shifted over the past decade, meaning the Visayas were now bearing the brunt of severe flooding in recent years. The survey, conducted during the first week of this month after a particularly heavy monsoon season, showed the rest of the country was hardly faring any better. “Only three percent of Filipinos were not affected by any natural calamity or disaster in the past three months,” said Holmes. Related reports Floodwaters threaten hundreds of thousandsNew typhoon rocks PhilippinesManila swamped by heaviest rains in years

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