Mandaue council to declare sitio under calamity status

Help is on the way for displaced fire victims of sitio Pulang Bukid, barangay Alang-Alang in Mandaue City.

The Mandaue City Council will meet today ahead of their usual Wednesday session to declare the area under a state of calamity.

Mayor Jonas Cortes asked the council to convene and pass the resolution to hasten release of financial aid.

Some families insist they want to return and rebuild their houses by the Butuanon River, but City Hall said the three-meter easement zone was off limits.

There are 169 homeowners and 190 house renters affected based on records but the figures still need validating, said City Social Welfare Services chief Violeta Cavada.

Homeowners will receive P5,000 cash and another P5,000 worth of relief goods. Renters will only receive P5,000 relief goods.

Some displaced residents aren’t happy about the city government’s plan to relocate them to a 6.5-hectare site in barangay Pakna-an.

Armando dela Cruz, a 43-year-old security guard, said he doesn’t want to move to Pakna-an since he can’t afford to pay rent there compared to his rent-free location by the river.

“If they remove us, where would we live? We weren’t included in the list of fire victims due to the hassle of paying the residents association’s monthly dues,” he said.

The 6.5-hectare lot was earlier acquired by the Mandaue City government as a relocation site for residents living along Mahiga Creek, Butuanon River and Mantuyong Creek.

Mayor Cortes called the San Vicente Ferrer Home Owners Association in barangay Alang-Alang to discuss the relocation site and on-site construction of their houses.

The association is accredited with the City Housing Urban Development Office (HUDO).

There are 86 houses within the three-meter easement zone. Only eight homeowners have complied with requirements for the relocation site, according to HUDO.

Dela Cruz said residents not in the list of fire victims didn’t attend the meeting at City Hall called by the HUDO last Saturday.

“It’s unfair if we, who were not on the list, would be removed and others would stay,” Dela Cruz said.

He said if push comes to shove, all families displaced by last Friday’s fire should be moved out of the area near the fire site.

“If the government is interested to help, they should come here because we are here. We are too busy taking care of our children and belongings. We don’t even have transportation fare to go to City Hall,” Dela Cruz said.

Another displaced resident, 20-year-old Michelle Apolo, stays in a parked jeepney with her 30-year-old husband Jose Ray, her eldest child and her newborn baby girl.

She used to rent a room for P1,000 a month in sitio Pulang Bukid before the fire. She just gave birth last Nov. 4. Apolo said they should have been relocated to an indoor area like a sports center or even in a public school.

In the parked jeepney she placed hammocks for the children to sleep in.

Apolo said she is worried where they would go if the jeepney parked near the fire site is pulled out by the operator.

She said they didn’t receive any tarpaulins given by the barangay. Twenty tents were distributed to the affected residents.

She said they only have the clothes on their backs and some clothings for her children. About 10 tents were tattered and got soaked in yesterday’s rain.

The fire victims had to buy a bamboo bed to avoid being soaked in floodwaters.

“Our priority is the safety and rest of our children and the protection of our belongings,” said Adrian Wenceslao.

Despite this, Dela Cruz was happy about the financial aid to be given for the purchase of housing materials.

Fire victims received relief goods from City Councilor Emmarie Ouano-Dizon and Rep. Luigi Quisumbing of Cebu’s 6th district.

Barangay councilors like Jaime Ceniza of Tingub said fire hydrants should be set up to provide firefighters enough water to put out fires. Jucell Marie P. Cuyos, Reporter