While the whole world was shocked by the images of devastation of Leyte province as super typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda) battered central Philippines from Friday to Saturday, another shocker was taking place in the province's capital city of Tacloban.

ABS-CBN showed a video of Residents Loot the Gaisano Mall at the Height of the Storm.

The embarrassing footage somehow negated the congratulatory message of CNN to Filipinos for being resilient despite another tragedy that has visited the nation.

Pundits said they would understand if the residents were driven to steal grocery items to ease their hunger pangs. However, they noted that the looters practically emptied the mall of contents, including big ticket items such as appliances and electronic goods. And they did it while smiling at the TV cameras!

Some people, however, found the looting a morally acceptable choice during a period of extreme need.

Ari Joshua admitted in the comments section of twitchy.com: "That looting video of gaisano tacloban shows us what humans will do, and are capable of doing, in times of anarchy. I'd do it too."

Errol Gatumbato added, "I don't know what and how to react when I saw the footages of looting in Tacloban. It is very difficult to say."

In response to the negative reaction that the looting elicited, Tacloban Councillor Cristina Romualdez, stated, quoted by GMA News. "The residents of Tacloban didn't want to do that, it's just out of desperation."

Some observers saw in the Gaisano mall looting the law of the jungle taking place wherein the strongest survive. It is not surprising that people from a Philippine province, which has one of the highest incidents of poverty, develop that kind of mentality.

Besides, many would surely say they are not stealing from the poor, but from the very rich which includes the Chinese owners of the Gaisano mall as well as the tenants of the shopping centre that include name brands and retailers.

It also would not take a genius to figure out that with exposes on the pork barrel fund being allegedly filched by businesswoman Janet Napoles and her cohorts in the Senate, poor Filipinos would have a sense of entitlement to the "goods of the earth" that the rich and the powerful, represented by the mall owners an retail establishments, currently control.

YouTube/Earth Uncut TV

The disturbing images of dead bodies on the street, house flattened by the 315 kph winds and hungry people in search of food and other basic needs would surely touch many nations and organisations to send donations.

This early, there are suspicions that some of the donations, particularly cash - and in dollars - may end up in private pockets instead of the intended recipients

Now is not the time to point fingers as to who is to blame for the looting of Gaisano mall, but for Filipinos to respond to the national tragedy created by Yolanda.

"There will be time to determine what went wrong, but at this moment our urgent task is to extend much needed help to the survivors and restore vital public services," Philippine Vice President Jejomar Binay said.

To help assuage the public that the donations would reach its beneficiaries, Cabinet Secretary Jose Almendras assured there would be proper accounting of all donations and disbursements.

Due to situation in Tacloban, President Benigno Aquino just declared a state of emergency in the city.

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