No more New Year media noche for families in sitio Silangan, barangay Tinago, Cebu City, after two fires struck the area this week.
It will be a cold night for families left with no roofs over their heads or mats to sleep on.
“Instead of spending for the New Year revelry, we will set aside the money to rebuild our homes,” said Perlita Javier, a mother of four.
For 25-year-old Belen Tadulan and her family, who only salvaged clothes and a few belongings, shelter is their pressing need.
They’ve been sleepless since they lost their house in the fire.
“We can always look for food, but it’s hard to find a place to sleep and rest,” Tadaluan said in Cebuano.
Bernadette Bueno, 34, was at the Leyte port on her way back to Cebu when her husband called and broke the bad news.
“We lost our blender, electric fan and TV in the fire. I felt like jumping from the ship because I wanted to be home quickly to try to salvage our things,” she said.
Their two-story house of light materials was gone.
The family had bought the modest house in 2003, and paid by installments until 2006.
At the time of the fire, her husband was in sitio Oprra in barangay Kalunasan while her two children were with relatives.
Bueno even brought along her husband’s relative from Leyte to spend the New Year with them in Cebu City.
But after hearing the news, she sent the relative home.
Bueno dismissed accusations of some neighbors that the second fire began in her house.
She said none of their electrical appliances were in use at that time.
“A neighbor saw the fire start under the stairs of one of our neighbors. Of course, the flames would spread easily since only a thin wall divides our areas. The flames caught the Pryce Gas too,” she said.
Loose talk of a deliberate attempt to drive residents out with the fire can be heard but no proof has surfaced so far.
“Pahawaon na siguro ta (Maybe they want us out of this place),” said one child when Cebu Daily News visited the area.
When classes resume, Bueno plans to ask teachers to excuse her children who have no more school supplies, uniforms or books.
Although they have to start from scratch and no media noche is possible tonight, Bueno said what is important is that her family is intact and that they are together to welcome 2012.
The Cebu city government served emergency meals for three days as part of standard relief operations.
For the victims of the first fire, the relief operation ended last Thursday.
It ended yesterday for the second batch of fire victims.
Relief goods were also distributed by the Red Cross.
The barangay captain updates the local government about their needs for immediate relief, residents said.