CNN?s Anderson Cooper versus Noynoy Aquino on the Typhoon Yolanda situation: like fact versus fiction « Get Real Post


There is now an ongoing battle for the truth about the real situation in typhoon-ravaged areas amidst the tragedy that is still unfolding a week after super typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) left the Philippines. On one side, members of the international media are giving factual reports from the ground at the disaster zone. On the other side are people from Malacanang including President Benigno Simeon “BS” Aquino who are giving a much rosier update from a cozier distance.


Telling it like it is in Tacloban: CNN's Anderson Cooper
Telling it like it is in Tacloban: CNN’s Anderson Cooper
While CNN journalist Anderson Cooper reporting from Tacloban City observed that he sees “no real evidence of organized recovery or relief” effort coming from the Philippine government where he is at, the same day President BS Aquino was giving a “reassuring” report during an interview with CNN studio reporter Christiane Amapour that the Philippine government’s relief and rescue operations were well on its way. The President even said, “all national roads have been reopened and most national airports are back to operating levels”.

Amapour’s professionalism remained commendable despite her receiving some ambiguous responses from BS Aquino. Others would have asked for pictures as proof of the President’s claims, or else it hasn’t happened. In fact, ground reporter Cooper was actually reporting live and showing actual footage from the ruins of Tacloban airport. The picture he showed was grimmer.


Bluffing his way through an interview: President BS Aquino
Bluffing his way through an interview: President BS Aquino
From Cooper’s vantage point, there were hundreds of people sleeping at the airport because there was nowhere for them to go and if one would just walk three blocks away from the airport, there were also people sleeping in makeshift huts or out exposed to rains even lying next to the bodies of their loved ones because these had yet to be picked up. He said there was also very little water and food supply because there was no feeding station, which according to him, was what one would expect after five days. The journalist added that he only heard of talks about the airport being opened again by the US marines but it hadn’t happened yet. He warned that the situation is getting desperate and that sooner or later something is bound to give.

To make matters even stranger for outsiders like Cooper, news anchor, Korina Sanchez who also happens to be the wife of Department of Interior and Local Government secretary, Mar Roxas became defensive and said that Cooper doesn’t know what he is talking about. Sanchez probably thought that her husband’s directing traffic on the streets of Tacloban could be considered a rescue operation. Thank goodness no one takes her seriously nowadays especially since she hasn’t even been to the disaster zone.