Even as disaster struck Metro Manila and Luzon, as these regions were submerged in floods, there went Noynoy, still bringing up the past and comparing what his government was doing for the flood victims to the previous government’s rescue efforts when Typhoon Ondoy struck.
As Noynoy claimed, he did not see the “sense of helplessness” that was pervasive when Ondoy struck under the Arroyo administration.
He was quoted as saying: “During Ondoy, the government had difficulty helping our people. Don’t think we’re finding it easier now. But I think the people don’t feel as desperate now. As you said some of our countrymen can afford to wait for the rescue services to come back for them, as opposed to before when they were pleading for help. I think they’re confident that the rescue teams will come back for them,” Aquino told reporters after presiding over a disaster meeting in Camp Aguinaldo.
A disaster struck and government—whoever it is leading it—has that obligation to conduct search and rescue operations and help victims wherever they are. Noynoy’s government certainly does not have to bring up comparisons while patting himself at the back, claiming that he did not see the “sense of helplessness” he saw during the tme of Ondoy.
In the first place, that sense of helplessness he says he believes is absent can hardly be gauged by him objectively. To this day, even as floodwaters have subsided a bit in some areas, government has not been able to provide full rescue operations and the same government is still short in providing relief goods, especially food for those who are not only in evacuation centers but also those who continue to be stranded.
Each  victim, who has not been rescued, whose child is sick and dying, due to what the rains and floodwaters have wrought, are enveloped with that sense of helplessness and hopelessness. Some may have lost their homes, or small business they had before the torrential rains poured. Obviously, they are stricken with that sense of helplessness.
Then too, it was not just government assistance that was at play. There were a lot of civic minded establishments, such as the media outfits that not only brought relief goods to whoever they couuld reach, but also went on rescue missions.
Besides, it is wrong to compare the recsue operations done by the current government to the previous government.
Ondoy was a storm, while the rains that submerged Manila and the provinces in Luzon was not, although both brought massive flooding.
Recall that vehicles submerged in floodwaters during Ondoy were floating and banging against each other. This was because of the strong winds, while most videos shown recently had vehicles submerged in floodwaters, but they were not moving about, mainly because there were no strong winds.
In a storm, there are strong winds and rain, which elements make it more difficult for rescuers to do their job.
Ondoy suddenly came in the night and by morning, Metro Manila was overwhelmingly flooded, and too many were caught unaware by the storm.
It took sometime for even volunteers and media foundations to get organized, and getting those relief goods out for the victims.
In the downpour that submerged Metro Manila and the rest of Luzon, the heavy rains fell a day earlier and there was a bit of time for government to prepare a bit better for the floods. But not even this government or  the previous one could get some stubborn persons to get out of their homes. To this day, there are many who don’t want to leave their homes and possessions, because of their fear that their possessions would be strolen, or lost.
Aquino was said to have recalled that in the aftermath of Ondoy, when he was still a senator, it took 24 hours to reach a political ally who was isolated by the floods that inundated Metro Manila.
Quite frankly, if he was not a presidential candidate, he wouldn’t even have ventured out during the Ondoy disaster. He never did in past catastrophies.
But he should also recall the other times the tyhoons hit the country as president. He was not even visible at all and when he did get to a flooded area, he never got his feet wet and went to one evacuation center in a visit that lasted less than five minutes then returned home quickly.