Leyte and Samar will rise again, says US diplomat

TACLOBAN CITY, Philippines—A US official in the country expressed confidence that Leyte and Samar provinces shall return just like what Gen. Douglas MacArthur did.

Robert Goldbeck, the US Embassy charge d’affaires, flew in here Wednesday to check on how US donations were being distributed by national and local government agencies tasked with delivering relief items to typhoon survivors.

“This is really unfortunate, but I am confident Leyte and Samar will return just as Gen. MacArthur returned many years ago,” he told reporters at the tarmac here.

He said he visited Tacloban last year when he attended the commemoration of MacArthur’s landing in Palo, Leyte. MacArthur landed on Red Beach on Oct. 20, 1944, leading to the liberation of the Philippines from Japanese forces.

Goldbeck said he was moved upon seeing how Tacloban and other towns in Leyte were flattened and left in shambles by the typhoon.

“The Philippine government faces a huge task after a storm of unparalleled proportion, larger than Hurricanes ‘Katrina’ and ‘Sandy,’”  Goldbeck said.

“When you see it overhead, the size and the degree of damage are really pretty horrendous,” Goldbeck said.

He said 10 C-130 military cargo planes of the US Air Force unloaded Wednesday tarpaulin shelters enough to house 10,000 families, food items, water and hygiene kits.

Goldbeck said the US government had already donated $20 million and would push for more from the international community.

Gallons of fresh water

Goldbeck said the temporary shelters were delivered by Boeing 727 planes on Tuesday.

“We will have C-130s flying in and out from Tacloban…. The emphasis is on shelters,” he said.

US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel has ordered the deployment of a US aircraft carrier to deliver 400,000 gallons of fresh water a day, according to Goldbeck.