Homeless in New Year

Around a hundred families lost their houses in yesterday morning’s fire in barangay Basak, Lapu-Lapu City.

It was still dark when the fire broke out 2:25 a.m. in sitio San Roque, a neighborhood of semi-concrete houses.

Wilfredo Tomial, 48, said he didn’t notice the fire start in his kitchen because he was drinking with friends and neighbors.

Social workers so far listed 85 burned houses , said Anita Jumamil of barangay Basak’s Gender and Development (GAD). office, but she esimated that 100 households were affected since many families shared living quarters.

A 6-year-old boy sustained minor burns and was brought to a hospital, she said.

The Philippine Red Cross in Lapu-Lapu City was the first to provide relief for around 500 fire victims by setting up a soup kitchen at the barangay gym in the morning.

Members of the Seventh Day Adventist Church were also seen giving assistance.

The city social welfare office prepared meals for fire victims to last them for three days.

Basak barangay captain Isabelo Darnayla of Basak said displaced families are staying at the Basak gym while some stayed with relatives while the fire site is being cleared of debris.

Darnayla said the barangay council will soon meet to declare a stae of calamity and may ask the city government for assistance as well.

The wife of Tomial, whose house is supected of being the origin of the fire, said she and her five children and a nephew were awakened by the fire’s crackling sounds at 2:25 a.m.

The fire was placed under control at 3:17 a.m. and caused property damage worth P540,000 said F03 Climaco Salisid.

The burned area area is located some 30 meters from the main road. Houses were made of semi-concrete and light materials.

Rebuilding

Darnayla said the area is owned by the Mactan Cebu International Airport Authority (MCIAA) but has a private claimant for the three-hectare lot. He said the Lumongsod family won the case in the Court of Appeals, but the case is now on appeal in the Supreme Court.

Residents, he said, can rebuild in the same area since neither the MCIAA nor the claimant asked him to prohibit the fire victims from returning.

Sherlita Tampus, 42, said her family has no choice but to rebuild in the area where their house used to stand. After spending New Year’s eve in the temporary shelter, they plan to set up a tent as their temporary dwelling today. /Norman V. Mendoza and Jhunnex Napallacan, Correspondents