Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City
14 November 2013

President Benigno S. Aquino III visited the Philippine Army in Fort Bonifacio which serves as one of the five food repacking centers especially set up to meet the target of 140,000 food packs daily that will be sent to the victims of super typhoon ‘Yolanda’ (international name:  Haiyan) in the Visayas region.

In his remarks, the President commended the volunteers’ presence and channeling their sympathy to the victims by assisting in the operations.  He said that despite the challenges being faced by the national government, it is exerting all efforts to address the needs of the people “mula sa pagkuha ng suplay, pag-ayos sa repacking na may sistema at ang pag-transport.”

At the same time, he urged the volunteers to speed up the food packing and put themselves in the shoes of the victims who have been suffering for almost a week now and desperation is slowly coming in.  “Pag napapagod na tayo, tandaan na sa bawat food pack ay may isang pamilyang natutulungan sa loob ng dalawang araw,” President Aquino emphasized, referring to the food pack that is good for two days per family.

Moreover, this is the first time that national government is at the forefront of relief operations since the affected local government units are themselves the victims of the super typhoon.

“Kailangan nating maibangon yung mga kababayan natin para magkaroon sila ng kakayahan asikasuhin ang sarili nila.  Ngayon ay pantawid muna mula sa shock ng delubyo at yung panahon na kaya na nilang asikasuhin ang kanilang mga buhay,” President Aquino said in closing.

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