TACLOBAN CITY-Senator Christopher “Bong” Go visited Calbayog City, Samar on Friday to console and provide cash assistance to fire victims that hit two villages of this city on Friday (April 21).
Go extended cash assistance worth P5, 000 each to the 215 families whose houses in the villages of Carmen and Obrero were totally burned down, on top of the food packs they have also received.
The senator said that he sympathizes with the fire victims saying to lose one’s house is difficult to accept. “Mahirap ang masunugan,” he said.
He then reported that with the measure he filed modernizing the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) now been approved, fire victims need not worry about where they could relocate after a fire incident.
The senator said that under the measure, the local government is mandated to have an evacuation center for fire victims.
At present, the fire victims of Calbayog are temporarily housed at the city’s sports facility.
The areas where the fire incident took place is owned by the city government of Calbayog.
But Mayor Raymund Uy promised to relocate the fire victims to a safer area. He, however, has yet to identify where these families will be relocated.
For now, he called on the relatives of the fire victims if they can accommodate them at least until they could restart rebuilding their homes.
The fire victims earlier received cash assistance from the provincial government under Gov. Sharee Ann Tan of P10, 000 and another P10, 000 from Rep. Stephen James Tan.
The local social welfare and development office also provided food and clothing, among others, to the fire victims.
To recall, a fire broke out in Carmen at past 2 am burning down 100 houses and later spread to the nearby village of Obrero, affecting 20 houses. Most of these houses were made of light materials.
Meantime, Sen. Go also distributed cash assistance to 600 indigent individuals of Calbayog City, each receiving P3, 000 while another 1,000 persons from the nearby town of Santa Margarita also received the same amount.
(JOEY A. GABIETA)
