From GMA News | November 9, 2013 7:49 pm
Looting post Katrina
Some 150 SAF PNP officers were sent to Tacloban in the wake of reports of looting of groceries and fast foods in the city. The chaos was attributed to the low visibility of the PNP and military after the typhoon onslaught. This looting was similar to the aftermath of the typhoon Katrina. There was a report of widespread looting in Lousiana after the typhoon.
Here is the quote from GMA news report:
"
The streets of Tacloban City
in Leyte were in chaos Saturday as several residents began looting
grocery stores and breaking into shops for food and other basic items
they needed to survive in the aftermath of typhoon Yolanda.
Video footage recorded by the team of GMA News correspondent Jiggy Manicad showed several men breaking into what appeared to be the storage area of a grocery store in the city and grabbing as much bread and softdrinks bottles as they can get.
Manicad said some residents have even resorted to forcibly entering fast food shops and destroying ATMs to get food and cash.
Looting in Tacloban City has been attributed to low police and military presence in the area after the typhoon, Manicad said.
"Sa lawak ng pinsalang idinulot nitong bagyo, masyadong manipis yung
pagpapakalat ng awtoridad para i-handle yung sitwasyon kaya't ganito na
ang nangyayari [dito], kanya-kanyang diskarte na, partikular na dito sa
lungsod ng Tacloban," he said.
Manicad said the
lone policeman he saw in the area where looting was taking place was
powerless to stop the residents because he was outnumbered and people
were already desperate for food and other necessities."
Those who learned of the looting are hesitant to help. However the other points of view is that looting is not necessarily stealing but a way to survive; the infrastructures and the govt has failed. If the "looters take only what they need to survive, then that is just a an answer for desire to survive. If they take electronics of a 42 inch LED tv, then that is stealing.
Calamities bring out the best and worst in people. Looting is not one of the best that should come out of our people. It was shameful to watch our Visayan kababayan doing that. The international communities I am sure viewed that. We are not animals. We are above the solons and the NGOs being charged and investigated at the Senate and elsewhere. Where is the dignity and Christian Values? Difficulties does not give excuse to disobey the ten commandments (Bishops?)
Is looting when there are no supplies justified?
Promise of aid, and concern of kababayan is very admireable.
President Pepe Mujica was very right in saying that those are poor are those whose needs are not satisfied.
Is obtaining supplies in order to survive stealing? Or just a survival instincts? PNP bosses must read this link so that they can be properly guided.
