Give and take

In the past few days, we were witness to the determination of displaced settlers to returnto what remained or used to be their homes that were devastated by fire or crushed under a collapsed wall.

Such was the case of the Talamban residents who returned to the site where a stone riprap fence destroyed their homes and killed two of their neighbors. As if they had a choice since the city isn’t offering them a relocation site.

Even without an assurance that they won’t experience another similar disaster, they left the sports center they were temporarily housed in and returned to the area to rebuild their homes, with or without assistance from the city or the developer of the nearby subdivision who owned the wall.

A parallel situation confronts most of the families hit by last week’s fire in barangay Luz as they opposed the 10-meter road widening to allow the easier entry of fire trucks in their area. Like the Talamban families, they wanted to have lots where they can construct their homes.

And like the Talamban families, the Luz families wanted a chance to rebuild their homes and expect support from the city government to do so. While some of them face a demolition, others were fortunately spared that fate.

Despite repeated warnings from the city government and the developer, the Talamban families will take their chances and rebuild their homes even if they live within the three-meter easement zone near the river, in violation of the law.

In both of these cases, it falls on the city government to either bail them out with a relocation as in the case of the Talamban families and/or to give the Luz families a break to stay on while they agree to widen their roads to allow fire trucks to pass through.

Despite their insistence to return to their homes, the Talamban families have very little say on the matter since they violated the law in the first place regardless of their poverty or state in life. That said, we urge the city government to speedily relocate them or pay their fares so they can return to their hometowns due to the onset of the rainy season over two weeks away.

While the Luz families are entitled to their share of living space, they shouldn’t be closed off that firefighters and emergency personnel would find it difficult to enter their area. They should also fulfill their promise to remove parked vehicles and other road obstacles in their roads to make themselves accessible.

With taxpayers through the millions they pay to the city government bearing the brunt of paying for their relocation, these affected families should learn to compromise and accept conditions required of them.