Sunday, May 13, 2012

CEBU CITY — Weeks shy of a new school year and its expenses, at least 565 families or 2,203 persons were displaced by the fire that hit Barangay Luz in this city last Friday.

Barangay officials asked the Cebu City Council to hold a special session to declare a calamity in the area and enable the quick release of emergency funds.

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“Para makabarog dayon sila ug balik (That way, people can get back on their feet again quickly),” Michael Guerra, barangay councilman, told Sun.Star Cebu.

As of 10 a.m. Saturday, about 290 houses were listed as damaged, according to the City’s Department of Social Welfare and Services (DSWS).

Video by Ariel Catubig of Sunnex

Donations began pouring in Saturday, including food, clothes and cash from private companies or persons.

Both Representative Rachel del Mar (Cebu City, north district) and Representative Tomas Osmeña (Cebu City, south district) also vowed to help. Lucia Mahusay of DSWS told Sun.Star Cebu the department will supply packed meals for the fire survivors until Tuesday.

The fire hit sitios Sto. Niño 1, City Central, Lubi and portions of Abellana, then damaged parts of the barangay’s public market and cemetery at 3:13 p.m. last Friday afternoon.

Cebu City Fire Marshal Aderson Comar, in an interview, said he can’t estimate the damage to property yet, as he’s still coordinating with DSWS and the Cebu City Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council.

He said the bureau will also summon one of the residents, in whose house the fire started, according to witnesses. She reportedly left the community, out of fear.

“Nag-lagot naman niya. Kung makit-an, unsaon pa lang siya sa iyang pamilya (People are furious with her. She was scared of what her own family might do if they saw her again),” said a 32-year-old woman, who wished not to be named.

Common cause

Initial theories included a plugged-in rice cooker that was left unattended, a charcoal fire, and electrical misuse.

Based on a report from the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP), 601 out of 7,324 fires were electricity-related.

Ronaldo Orbeta, officer-in-charge of the Regional Operations Division of the BFP, also advised the public to get rid of fire hazards like paint and stacks of old newspapers.

“We must practice good housekeeping. Let’s keep away materials that might easily catch flame,” he said.

Around 16 policemen were fielded in the fire site and temporary shelter to protect the survivors.

“Despite their grief and loss, the people remained orderly,” said Police Officer 1 Pacheco Lugo of the Mabolo Police Station.

Inside Barangay Luz Elementary School, several residents underwent medical examination on Saturday. Many of the elderly residents suffered from high blood pressure, while children were coughing as a result of the incident.

“They were immediately given medicines,” said health worker Clarisse Borces.

Aid

But in an interview with Sun.Star Cebu on Saturday, Osmeña lamented the alleged delay in the release of the financial assistance he promised to the families displaced by a fire in Barangay Suba last March.

“I have been following it up. The money is there but until now it has not yet been given to the affected families,” the congressman said.

Osmeña said he will be giving P10,000 cash assistance each to the owners of the structures in Luz, while renters will get P2,000 each.

Del Mar, for her part, said she is giving more than P500,000, which will be divided among the displaced families. She began distributing the assistance Saturday afternoon.

She appealed to the private sector to donate food and clothes. “Luoy gyud kayo sila (The survivors are struggling). Some of them have not retrieved any of their things. They really need help,” she said.

For Resyln Salonoy, the fire spoiled her fourth birthday.

Her mother Elenita said she did not expect the fire to be so widespread.

Their house sat across the street from the place where the flames were believed to have started. The family lost most of its belongings, including the gift Elenita had prepared for Reslyn.

Survival

Elenita and her family, together with other fire survivors, are living in the Barangay Luz Elementary School. As of Saturday, the room they were in was crammed with clothes, appliances and other things the residents saved. And the room has only one overhead fan, which the adults aimed at the children to keep them cool.

“We are ok. There’s nothing we can do but accept what has happened,” Elenita said in Cebuano.

For now, she’s planning to go back to their house in Inayawan, but has some misgivings because it’s far from a school her children can attend.

“Pero, ambot lang kung unsa ang desisyon sa akong bana. Nag-libog pa mi (I don’t know what my husband’s decision is yet. We are still confused),” she said.

She knows it will be hard to start again but, as she said, the family doesn’t have a choice. (With Meryl Lyn Roa, UP Mass Comm Intern/Sun.Star Cebu)

Published in the Sun.Star Cebu newspaper on May 13, 2012.