News Manager
Milforums News Bot
By Rosemarie Francisco MANILA (Reuters) - Two days before one of the world's most powerful typhoons rammed into the Philippines, President Benigno Aquino had a simple but ambitious target for all government agencies: zero casualties. Fast-forward a week: thousands are dead, anger is growing over the slow relief effort and Aquino's once-unassailable popularity is under threat - along with the reforms that have helped transform the Philippines into one of Asia's fastest-growing and hottest emerging economies. Aquino faces a challenge that could define and undermine his presidency in the wake of Typhoon Haiyan, whose 313 km per hour (195 mph) winds and tsunami-like wall of water turned coastal regions into corpse-strewn wastelands. He's appeared only briefly on TV, including once from the city of Tacloban huddling with local officials and again at the Malacanang presidential palace to announce a national calamity.More...