Badjao families displaced by 2013 Zamboanga siege lose houses to fire
RAZED | More than 300 families, mostly Badjaos displaced by the Zamboanga City siege almost 10 years ago, are rendered homeless by the fire that razed their houses at Barangay Kasanyangan early Monday. One resident died while three others were hurt in the blaze. (Photo from the Zamboanga City Government)
ZAMBOANGA CITY, Zamboanga del Sur, Philippines — Badjao families relocated to the Bamboo Shelter in Sitio Asinan, Barangay Kasanyangan, after the siege of this city in September 2013 lost their homes again.
Nasser Jimlani, a purok leader of Phase 3 in Asinan, said a man who allegedly abused his wife torched their own house, resulting in a big fire that razed more than 300 houses, including that of Jimlani’s, at around 2 a.m. on Monday.
The man who started the fire, identified as Moradon Isnihaji, died in the fire, according to Maria Socorro Rojas, the city social welfare officer.
A total of 354 families, mostly Badjaos displaced in the 2013 siege, found themselves homeless again, said Jimlani.
“The woman tried to escape [from her husband] around 10 p.m. [on Sunday],” Jimlani told the Inquirer. “She was already covered with bruises. We helped her hide in our house. Her husband was mad, looking for her. When the woman thought the husband was gone, she went [back to the house], but we saw her husband rush toward her minutes after she arrived. Before midnight, we heard a commotion and neighbors told us that the woman’s husband was torching their house and so, we all started to run toward the house and tried to put out the fire,” Jimlani said.
When the fire engulfed the entire house, Jimlani said they saw Isnihaji jump into the fire. By then, the fire had spread to other houses in the community.
Nowhere to go
Jimlani said they were aware of the domestic violence happening inside the house of Isnihaji for quite some time. “He was a drug addict and the community was aware of how he abused his family,” Jimlani said.
The Bamboo Shelter, a part of Vale Vista Phase 4 in Kasanyangan, was developed as a relocation site for displaced families after the three-week battle between government forces and a faction of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) that laid siege on the city starting on Sept. 9, 2013. The battle left over 200 dead, including 25 law enforcers, 13 civilians, and over a hundred MNLF members; and displaced over 100,000 individuals.
Rojas said the city has difficulty finding evacuation sites for the fire victims as it is currently housing in different shelters some 3,000 families displaced by earlier calamities, including those affected by Tropical Storm “Paeng” (international name: Nalgae) in October 2022 and the massive flood on Christmas Day last year.
