Philippine govt under fire over response

       As entire suburbs of Manila remain under water and evacuees wait in vain for food a week after deadly floods, the Philippine government is drawing anger over not being prepared for the disaster.
       Sanitation for about half a million people in temporary evacuation centres,remains dismal, increasing the risk of disease, while debris is still piled on the streets, clogging drains.
       Even President Gloria Arroyo has flashed her irritation at the government's response since tropical storm Ketsana dumped the heaviest rains in 40 years on the nation's capital on Sept 26.
       "This is not good enough in a time of crisis," she admonished one official late last week during a nationally televised meeting of government administrators to discuss the relief efforts.
       Critics say successive governments of the country of 92 million people have failed to adequately prepare for the earthquakes and typhoons that inevitably come its way given its location.
       "In a land lashed by no less than 20 storms during the typhoon season, we have not built up a disaster relief mech-anism," political analyst Amando Doronilla wrote in the Philippine Daily Inquirer ."From the first hours of the flood, the government failed to exist. The army and police were caught off-guard. They ran out of inflated rubber boats to rescue people stranded in their homes or carried away by flood waters."
       The official death toll from the floods in the Philippines stands at 293, although dozens more are missing.
       More emergency aid reached southern Laos yesterday, officials said after Ketsana left at least 24 people dead there.
       "They've already started going out and helping people, giving out water and food," said Sally Sakulku, of Britishbased Health Unlimited, referring to her staff in hardest-hit Attapeu province.
       "It's accessible now."Flood waters left the rugged region reachable only by helicopter and boat until limited road access opened on Saturday. Ms Sakulku said her teams expected to reach about 1,000 families by nightfall last night in Attapeu, which borders Cambodia.
       The death toll from Typhoon Ketsana in Vietnam jumped to 162 yesterday with hundreds more injured, an official said, adding urgency to a Red Cross appeal launched to help more than 200,000 storm victims.
       Another 13 people remain missing and 616 are injured, said the official from the national flood and storm control committee in Hanoi.
       Ketsana affected 14 provinces, according to officials, but about half the deaths happened in just two areas: the central fishing province of Quang Ngai and mountainous Kon Tum. There were 47 dead in Kon Tum and 33 in Quang Ngai, officials said yesterday.
       The Red Cross said it needs help to provide rice, fresh water, and rebuild destroyed homes.
       "We are very happy to receive any support, money or goods," Doan Van Thai, secretary-general of the Vietnam Red Cross Society, said on Saturday.
       Meanwhile Taiwan yesterday said that Typhoon Parma may be approaching the island, but it was still 310km away.It is predicted to circle around the Bashi Channel which separates Taiwan and the Philippines and then turn southwest,a weather bureau official said.