President Ma Ying-jeou apologized Tuesday for the government's shortcomings in dealing with the aftermath of Typhoon Morakot and pledged to punish any liable officials by early September. Ma made the remarks at a news conference held to address mounting public resentment and criticisms that the government's response to the disaster was slow and its rescue efforts inefficient. Ma said that as the national leader, he will take responsibility for any deficiencies on the part of the government. 'I hereby offer my heartfelt apology to the entire nation, especially to those who lost their loved ones in the disaster,' he said. He said as the rescue operations are ending, the government will soon begin to investigate and identify the deficiencies in handling the disaster aftermath and will examine the administrative and political responsibilities of the officials involved. Any punishments for those deemed liable and any Cabinet reshuffle decisions will be announced by early September, he said. Ma stressed that the government has decided to hold off on the matter for a couple of weeks so as not to dampen the morale of rescuers. 'We are not trying to cover up our mistakes, but are only making a little postponement,' he said. Ruling out the possibility of stepping down over the matter, Ma said he must shoulder the upcoming post-disaster reconstruction effort and cannot leave office, as this would be an evasion of duty. On the public's doubts over his decision not to declare a state of emergency in the aftermath of the storm, Ma explained that the Disaster Prevention and Protection Act enacted in 2000 already empowers the government to take the necessary steps to deal with emergency situations. He said the mechanisms provided under the law should be allowed to function, although there may be room for improvement to these provisions. Noting that the government set up a rescue command center in southern Taiwan immediately after the disaster, he said that communication problems probably contributed to the inefficiency of the rescue operations. The president explained that he activated the national security mechanism Aug. 14 because the government needed to prepare for the huge outlay of financial and human resources that would be required in the post-disaster reconstruction period. 