Palace on looting- Reason will prevail

MANILA - Cabinet Secretary Rene Almendras on Monday said he is confident that "reason will prevail" amid reports of widespread looting in Tacloban City. Almendras said local officials can organize the barangays and puroks and check on the survivors and list their names down. The Cabinet official refused to talk about the philosophical ramifications of looting after the devastation brought by super typhoon "Yolanda." "Ang hindi lang po maganda ay yung looting na may television set, pati po yung signage ng McDonald's na drive-through nakalagay. Biro mo meron kami nakita bitbit yun. Utang na loob, ano ang gagawin mo dun di ba? Ibebenta..." he said. "It is very important to establish command and control in a disaster situation immediately. The minute you let go of it, the tendency is it catches on. That is what has been reestablished in Tacloban," he said. ANC, November 11, 2013