TACLOBAN CITY – Mayor Alfred Romualdez stressed the importance of disaster preparedness during the 11th anniversary of super typhoon “Yolanda” (Haiyan) here.
MAYOR Romualdez (FB)
“Let us not always rely on government because it is very difficult due to the number of people asking for help,” Romualdez said during a Mass in a mass grave in Barangay Basper where over 2,000 victims were buried.
Romualdez said people need to listen to authorities and cooperate with the government when they are told not to live in danger zones.
“Our national government, the government spends hundreds of millions building places wherein we can move people that have been hit by the typhoon because majority of these people live in danger zones.”
“Let us learn. Everybody wants to live beside the sea but is not prepared for these kinds of disasters. After that, they will ask for help from the government,” he added.
Romualdez assured survivors that they would continue to commemorate Yolanda.
“There is a reason why we survived the storm. We have a purpose in life and that is to teach the next generation how to prepare for calamities and disasters that are ever day challenging,” he said.
Over 6,000 people died during the onslaught of one of the strongest typhoons to make landfall in history.