Philippines government defends Typhoon Haiyan relief efforts

Tacloban: The Philippine government is defending its efforts to deliver assistance to victims of Typhoon Haiyan.

Interior Secretary Mar Roxas said Friday that “in a situation like this, nothing is fast enough.” Roxas was speaking in the hard-hit city of Tacloban, most of which was destroyed by the storm one week ago. [caption id=“attachment_1231099” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Survivors wait for treatment in Takloban. AP[/caption] Government officials have given different death tolls, both actual and estimated, as a result of the disaster. The spokesman for the country’s civil defense agency, Maj. Reynaldo Balido, confirmed early Friday that the figure had risen to 2,360, hours after the United Nations issued conflicting reports on how many people had died. Some officials estimate that the final toll, when the missing are declared dead and remote regions reached, will be more than 10,000. At least 600,000 people have been displaced, many of them homeless. The pace of the aid effort has picked up over the last 24 hours. AP