Dispatch from Crame No. 970:
Sen. Leila M. de Lima's reaction on Duterte's order to create a new task force as response to typhoon onslaught

Duterte wakes up from his siesta amid the onslaught of Typhoon Ulysses to announce the creation of yet another task force. Para namang sa pagbuo ng patong-patong na task force ay mapapaniwala pa ang taumbayan na ginagawa niya ang trabaho niya.

And then he had the gall to dismiss as "istorya lang yan" critiques of the government's slow response. Kung hindi pa naunang kumilos ang Office of the Vice President at pribadong sektor, hindi pa sana magkukumahog na gumising at pumunta sa Cagayan itong Pangulo na ito.

We have too many task forces and oplans but never an integrated, meaningful and long-range solution for the country's calamity-related problems. Seems to me, Duterte's concept of crisis response is the creation of a task force that will create another task force from existing task forces.

With all his claim of streamlining response, this act amounts to nothing but the putting up of additional layers of red tape and buck-passing bureaucracy that will just result in aggravated inefficiency and worsened unaccountability in government. This administration's penchant for creating a task force for every crisis is a desperate attempt at damage control for its ineptitude.

Kay Duterte at kanyang mga kasama: Magtrabaho na lang kasi kayo. Yong totoo. Yong matino. Yong mahusay.

O baka naman puwede rin tayong bumuo ng Task Force Panagutin ang Pangulo?

(Access the handwritten version, here: https://issuu.com/senatorleilam.delima/docs/dispatchno970)