Philippines supplies looted and aid convoys mobbed
- 11 years ago
Dozens more soldiers have arrived in the stricken Philippines city of Tacloban amid fears that desperation, thirst and hunger are provoking looting and anarchy.
Two air force transport planes landed with more troops than humanitarian provisions.
Relief agencies have been mobbed, warehouses robbed and water pipes punctured as people try to get at supplies.
Restoring order is as important a priority as distributing aid.
“Our message to the looters is that we will implement the full force of the law, because that cannot be tolerated. Our countrymen are suffering already and they will just add more problems,” said Tacloban police chief Carmelo Valmoria.
One UN official in Tacloban said disasters like this allowed a three-day window to get aid through. If there is nothing by day four, people are angry, he added.
The terrible destruction in this city is at least visible.
There have also been reports of violence in other parts of the country devastated by the super-storm which the rescue effort has yet to reach.
Two air force transport planes landed with more troops than humanitarian provisions.
Relief agencies have been mobbed, warehouses robbed and water pipes punctured as people try to get at supplies.
Restoring order is as important a priority as distributing aid.
“Our message to the looters is that we will implement the full force of the law, because that cannot be tolerated. Our countrymen are suffering already and they will just add more problems,” said Tacloban police chief Carmelo Valmoria.
One UN official in Tacloban said disasters like this allowed a three-day window to get aid through. If there is nothing by day four, people are angry, he added.
The terrible destruction in this city is at least visible.
There have also been reports of violence in other parts of the country devastated by the super-storm which the rescue effort has yet to reach.