The landlord Aquino bared his contempt for the poor when he slammed the victims for their “hard-headedness” and blamed them for the tragedy that had befallen them, even as hundreds of thousands of families were still mired in the mud left behind by receding flood waters. Aquino even execrably exploited the tragedy to parade his favored senatorial candidates before several evacuation centers.
Lumitaw ang pagiging matapob-re ng asenderong si Aquino nang sumbatan niya ang mga biktima na "Matitigas ang ulo!" at idiniin sila sa dinanas na sakuna, kahit nakahandusay pa sa putik ang daan-daan libong pamilyang biktima ng baha. Kasuka-sukang ginamit pa ni Aquino ang trahedya upang iparada sa mga evacuation center ang kanyang mga manok na kandidato sa darating na eleksyon.