Biggest fire in cebu city this year: 2,722 homeless

CEBU, Philippines - Christmas won't be merry for 602 families in Barangay Duljo-Fatima whose houses were razed by what was considered the biggest fire that hit Cebu City this year, so far.

As of 3 p.m. yesterday, the city's disaster team counted 531 houses burned totally and 2,722 individuals displaced.

No one died but four people were injured, said Senior Fire Officer 1 Edwin Handayan. The four were identified as Rodrigo Fernandez, Meleton Adorna, Paulino Tudtud, and Jaqueline Ceniza.

Barangay Captain Elmer Abella said the barangay council has placed the entire barangay under a state of calamity. Six sitios were affected by the fire, namely Bohol, Sadoko, Riverside, Continental, Riverside, Chicago, and parts of Sitio Plastikan.

Abella said the barangay council will convene to discuss how to spend the P537,000 calamity fund. 

"Kadaghanan gyud sa mga nasunogan wala na gyuy napunit sa ilang mga butang kay dali ra kaayo nikatag ang kayo maong galisod gyud ang ilang mga sitwasyon karon. Manawagan pud ko sa mga tao kon duna silay ika-dalit sa mga nasunogan nga maayo unta motabang sila," he told THE FREEMAN.

The Bureau of Fire Protection received the alarm at 11:14 p.m. Thursday. Firefighters were able to control it after over an hour at past 1 a.m. Friday.

The city government is hoping to clear and re-block the area so that families can start rebuilding their houses before Christmas Eve.

Mayor Tomas Osmeña said he does not want the survivors displaced.

"As a general rule, ever since before, I do not like to evict person using fire as an excuse," he said.

The city will give P10,000 financial aid to each family affected, for now, but Osmeña said he plans to eventually raise the amount to P20,000 for those whose houses was burned to the ground.

"I'm going to implement a program wherein we will double the assistance of the fire victims. If your house burned down, you will get P20,000 if its fully burned down," he said.

Re-Blocking

Geneveive Alcoseba, head of the city's Division for the Welfare of the Urban Poor, said eight 6.5-meter-wide roads will be opened at the fire stricken area.

"The city will clear the area, establish the road, and set the lot allocation for the fire victims," she said.

The roads are necessary to give access to responders in the event of a calamity.

She said they would need to speak with the victims, considering that a big part of the land is public while some parts are owned privately.

"As soon as possible, mao ni atong aim nga ma-clear kay Pasko raba intawon. This is actually the biggest fire this year kay more than 400 ka balay ni," she said.

Alcoseba said there are eight urban poor associations affected by the fire. Only those who owned houses are allowed to rebuild.

Sitio Riverside Chapel leader Genalyn Bolabola expressed concern over the re-blocking scheme.

"Parehas sa amoa, dako-dako pod raba ning lunaa. Mura’g alkanse mi ani kun iparehas sa ubang luna," she said.

Carlito Algrabre, 59, for his part, said he will agree to the re-blocking if only to give more access to responders in the future.

"Sugot ko ana kay pareha karon, wala gyud mi'y dalan. Wala koy nakuha nga akong butang gyud bisa’g usa. Ang kini rang among gisul-ob among nadala kay kusog kaayo mikatap ang kayo," he said.

Shelter

The survivors are staying temporarily at the barangay sports complex and at 14 classrooms of the San Nicolas Elementary School.

Lunesa Pogoy, assistant principal, said three teachers and several students were also affected by the fire. She said the survivors can stay in the school up to 15 days.

Edna Palileo, a Grade 4 teacher, said her class is planning to cancel its Christmas Party so they can give their budget instead to the victims.

Harassment?

Meanwhile, Osmeña ordered the arrest of those who allegedly fired "warning shots" so that fire volunteers from Kamputhaw and Ermita would prioritize their houses.

"We will find them. We will shoot them. I'm not kidding. Dili ko modawat niana. We will have them arrested. They pull out their gun and they pulled their trigger. We will pull out our gun and pull our trigger also," the mayor said.  (FREEMAN)