World Environment News - Manila Hit Over Aid Delay After Storm Kills 140 - Planet Ark

World Environment News - Manila Hit Over Aid Delay After Storm Kills 140 - Planet Ark: "Manila Hit Over Aid Delay After Storm Kills 140

Date: 29-Sep-09
Country: PHILIPPINES
Author: Rosemarie Francisco

Manila Hit Over Aid Delay After Storm Kills 140 Photo: Erik de Castro
Rescuers assist residents from floodwaters caused by Typhoon Ondoy as they board a rubber boat in Cainta Rizal east of Manila September 27, 2009.
Photo: Erik de Castro

MANILA - Philippine officials scampered to send relief aid Monday to hundreds of thousands hit by weekend floods in and around Manila, while anger mounted over what was seen as an inadequate response from the government.

As the death toll from flash floods soared to 140, analysts said the anger could damage the prospects of Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro, the administration's candidate in the May 2010 presidential election.

'His 0.2 percent popularity could be zero by now,' said political analyst and columnist Nelson Navarro, of Teodoro.

President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, already deeply unpopular in opinion polls, ordered an emergency center be set up in the presidential palace Monday, two days after the floods, highlighting for some the haphazard response to the disaster.

At least 450,000 people were affected, including about 150,000 displaced.

Officials said the economic damage from the worst rains on record"