During the program, the video on him was shown and Aquino mentioned Mang Pete in his speech, saying, “Mabuti pa itong taong ito,maraming namatay sa pamilya niya (pero) tumutulong sa ibang tao hindi tulad ng iba na nag-iinom lang (This man is better, he lost so many in his family but helps other people, not like others who do nothing but drink).”
But just before he was to go onstage, Mang Pete said, “sinabihan ako na sabihin ko daw na wala ako sinisisi at wala akong dapat sisihin sa nangyari sa pamilya ko (I was told to say that I blamed no one and there is no one to blame for what happened to my family).”
But before leaving for Bohol, Mang Pete, a councilman of Barangay San Joaquin, said he and barangay chairman Gregorio “Papoose” Lantajo had agreed that they could not afford to pass up the opportunity afforded by the meeting with Aquino to seek the national government’s help for their village, one of the areas hardest hit by Yolanda.
Thus, when Mang Pete arrived in Bohol, he was armed with a barangay resolution, which he in fact personally handed to Aquino.
And that, it seems, was that.
Because, Lacandazo and Lantajo said, not only have they not heard back from the Office of the President, but with the first anniversary of the killer storm just little more than two months away, they say their barangay has received hardly anything from the government.
Lantajo admits being frustrated and hurt to this day because, as he points out, people in their village have barely begun rebuilding the homes and livelihoods they lost to Yolanda.
“Kaya ‘yung sinabi niya (Aquino) noong SONA (State of the Nation Address)? Hindi totoo 'yun. Limang araw kaming nagtiis ng gutom dito bago magkaroon ng pagkain (So, whay he said during the SONA? It wasn’t true. We went hungry for five days before we tasted food),” he said, echoing the sentiment of many Yolanda survivors following Aquino’s fifth report to the nation, in which he claimed government had responded promptly after the disaster.
Looking back to the day when he met the President, Lacandazo bitterly says:
“Ginamit lang ako sa show nila. Inabot ko sa kanya ang resulosyon ng barangay namin, tinanggap lang niya tapos tiningnan at wala man lang sinabi tungkol dito. Wala man lang sinagot kahit na isang salita sa akin (They only used me for their show. I handed him the resolution of our barangay, he accepted it and looked at it and never said a word about it. He never gave me a word of reply).”
His barangay chairman agrees.
“Totoo ginawa lang na propaganda ni PNoy si Mang Pete. Binalewala niya ang aming paghingi ng tulong sa kanya. Lumala na ngayon ang aming paghahanap kung nasaan na ang national government (It’s true PNoy just used Mang Pete for propaganda. He ignored our plea for help. Our search for the national government has gone nowhere).”
Lacandazo and Lantajo acknowledge that letters from their barangay council to the Office of the Vice President and Senator Cynthia Villar were answered,
albeit all they did was to refer their concerns to the DSWD regional office.
“At least, ‘yung dalawa, sinagot ‘yung sulat namin.Pero ‘yung kay PNoy wala talaga. Actually, frustrated talaga ako sa kanya, kaya hindi na kami umaasa na tutulungan pa kami ng Presidente (At least, those two answered our letters. But nothing has ever been heard from PNoy. Actually, I am very frustrated with him, which is why we no longer hope that the President will ever help us),” Lantajo said.
Luoya sad ani nilang Mang Pete. Magwonder lang sad ta kung unsay nahitabo adtong international aid nga nicourse-through pa sa gobyerno.
Yolanda survivor on Pnoy propaganda: "GINAMIT LANG AKO..."
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