For driver, complete family enough to celebrate X’mas

A chiffon cake to be enjoyed together with his family is more than enough to celebrate Christmas for tricycle driver Emerito Noble, 42.

Noble and his family were left homeless by last Sunday’s fire in sitio Vito, barangay Banilad, Mandaue City. The fire destroyed at least 39 houses and left 254 families homeless.

Noble, who has a wife and three children, said the most important thing is that they will celebrate Christmas as a complete family.

He said he would buy the simple cake, a favorite of his children.

“Gamay ra man mi kalipay mga pobre makakaon na mi pasko na na (We enjoy y simple pleasures because we are poor. If we can eat, then it’s already a Christmas celebration),” Noble said.

Noble had rented the lot for five years from 91-year-old, Buenaventura ‘Tora’ Oporto. He paid a monthly rental of P2,500.

With his daily earnings of P200 to P300 as a tricycle driver, he was able to support his family and send his six-year-old child to Cabancalan Elementary School.

With his house gone, he has to stop driving temporarily since his family uses the tricycle as their closet and bedroom. The other end of their makeshift tent is also attached to the tricycle.

Without a house, he said this was the worst Christmas the family ever had.

His children suffer from cough and colds due to the cold weather at night. He said he had to buy his own tent since the government only distributed tents to house owners.

Nevertheless, the city government gave relief goods.

“Lahi man daw mi dili man daw mi tag iya jud kato raman tag iya hatagan pero ang renters dili man(They said that we can’t be given the tents because only the lot owners are given tents not the renters),” he said.

Lot owner Oporto will celebrate Christmas in a makeshift tent.

Oporto said this was the worst Christmas for him because he not only lost his house but also his P40,000 savings, which was destroyed in the fire.

“That money is always in my pocket but at that particular time, I don’t know where I put it,” he said in Cebuano.

“That was all I had,” he said.

Oporto wasn’t able to save any belongings.

Oporto, who is still single, said he was suffering from cough after sleeping several nights under a tent provided by the Mandaue City government.

Elvira Dumagit, 43, a grand niece of Oporto, said that the old man never married and instead gave all his nephews and nieces a share in the one-hectare lot he owned in sitio Vito.

He built a chapel there and small houses for rent.

All the buildings went up in smoke last week.

Oporto, however, was thankful for the donations or “bundles of joy” he received from kind-hearted persons and institutions.

Fire victims can expect financial assistance in early January after the City Council in a special session declared sitio Vito a calamity area.

City Administrator James Abadia said the financial aid and housing materials, which is standard issue for calamity victims, would soon be released next week.

Dislocated lot owners would receive P10,000 cash while the renters would get P5,000 worth of relief goods, said Mandaue City Public Information Officer Roger Paler.

Paler said that since it’s already the close of the year, processing of papers would take time and the assistance would likely be released in early January.