Mandaue fire victims appeal for school supplies, housing materials

I hope someone gives me shoes and a school uniform. I want to go to school,” said 6-year-old Joshua in Cebuano as he looked at the burned ruins of his home in barangay Paknaan, Mandaue City.

With the opening of classes in June 4, many children displaced by Wednesday’s fire share Joshua’s longing.

Residents in zone Kamansi, sitio Kalderohan, a former relocation site of evicted families, want to rebuild their shanties on site.

Esmeralda Sigarra, 54, said they need building materials to put a roof over their heads.

Her husband works as a utility in a company in Lapu-Lapu City.

Food is not a problem because the local government released emergency meals and food stuff, she said.

What fire victims need are GI sheets, panel boards, wood and nails.

Joshua’s 49-year-old father, Justino Turing, said he worries that his three grade-school children won’t be able to attend classes on June 4.

Their newly bought school uniforms and supplies and school credentials were burned in the fire.

But Joshua, his youngest child, is excited because it would be his first time to go to elementary school in June.

He told Cebu Daily News he wishes kindhearted people would donate school uniforms and shoes to them.

The working capital and raw materials for the family’s broom-making business was destroyed in the fire.

“I wasn’t able to save those things because I secured my children first,” he said.

School officials offered some relief by announcing that dress code for students won’t be followed strictly.

“They can go to school without wearing uniforms, but we also encourage them to have one because it can help the children to be easily identified as real students,” said Benjamin Tiongson, administrative officer of the Mandaue City Department of Education Division.

He said a DepEd memorandum will be issued to all public schools in Mandaue City to ask them to start donation drives for school supplies, uniforms, food and others things for the fire victims.

Fire investigators are checking reports that defective electrical wiring near the window of the second floor of Radencio Ramos’ house might have caused the fire, said SF02 Roy Garcia of the Mandaue City Fire Department.

As of last count of the Mandaue City Social Welfare Services, 268 families were affected by the fire.

Most of them or 239 are homeowners. They will receive P10,000 each and while the 29 renters will receive P5,000 each as financial assistance from the city government.