Gen. Soria's dismissal from his post as regional director of the Eastern Visayas Police Department is a wrongful termination.  It was unwarranted, unjust and is a form of disciplinary action taken against an employee for his honesty, his efforts to exercise his free speech and provide his best estimate of the death toll of the devastating Super Typhoon Haiyan/Yolanda. 

Gen. Soria was relieved from his post by the national government simply because he was able to admit and acknowledge that the destruction was absolute.  Soria told reporters that he estimated the death rate of the Haiyan/Yolanda Typhoon to be at around 10,000 dead.  This is contrary to the offical position of the government who insists that the death toll stands at a mere 2,000 (this is according to an interview given by Pres. Benigno Aquino to CCN's Christine Amanpour). 

The official position of the Philippine governemen is that Gen. Soria was relieved of his duties to allow him to take a break from the tragedy.  But according to the Philippine Star, Gen. Soria incurred the ire of government officials for expressing his view on Haiyan/Yolanda’s rampage in Eastern Visayas.

Whether the death toll is 2K or 10K, the numbers do not really matter.  The devastation of Leyte, Samar, Antique and other areas is complete.  Suppressing and/or deliberately underestimating the mortality rate will not change the fact that many people died as a result of the cataclysmic natural disaster for which the Nation and its leaders were unprepared and unable to cope with the magnitude of the loss and destruction.

Gen. Soria's estimate is far more on point than what the current goverment and its leaders are willing to accept and acknowledge.  Acceptance of the situation is the first step in recovery.  And the Philippine government needs to accept the reality of the devastation and reinstate Gen. Soria to his post as a goodwill gesture to the people that that the President and his officals are doing all they can to speed up relief and hasten the recovery.

We demand that Pres. Benigno (Nonoy) Aquino III reinstate Gen. Elmer Sonia forthwith.  We demand that Pres. Benigno (Nonoy) Aquino reinstate an honest man and a brave hero who dared to stand up and speak his mind.  We do not need anymore "YES" men on the ground.  What we need are men like Gen. Elmer Soria who can look at the facts and not flinch at reality.  We need men like Gen. Elmer Soria who can obviously get things done.

To read more of the story, please visit the Philippine Star here:  http://digitaledition.philstar.com/newspaper/showArticle/31218/share/Police-official-sacked-over-10-000-fatality-estimate/?utm_source=buffer&utm_campaign=Buffer&utm_content=buffere8584&utm_medium=twitter