WITH no homes and jobs to go back to, at least 10 of the 54 families staying at the Family Rebuilding Center at the South Road Properties (SRP) do not plan to return to their homes in Eastern Visayas, although the Cebu city government and Red Cross will close the center on March 23.
“Dili pa ko ready mo balik didto. Diri na lang usa mi sa Cebu para maka move on mi,” said Emerita Antonino, 46, from Palo, Leyte. (We are not ready to go home. We’d like to stay in Cebu and move on with our lives.)
She lost her husband and two of her five children during the storm surge that also wiped out everything that they owned.
“Sakit man pero usahay mo hilak na lang ko unya mag pray. Kinahanglan mo move on kay naa pa koy tulo ka anak nga nahibilin,” she told Cebu Daily News. (I still feel the pain, and I pray I can move on for the sake of my three children.)
Ester Concha, head of the Department of Social Welfare and Services (DSWS), said 54 families or 194 individuals occupy the center. At least 31 individuals have found employment in hotels, calls centers and malls.
About 10 families signified plans to go back to their hometowns while 31 families decided to remain in the city. The 13 others have yet to finalize their plans.
Occupants of the center are from Guiuan and Borongan in Eastern Samar; Basi in Western Samar; and Tacloban, Pastrana, Palo, Alang Alang, San Isidro, Villaba, Dagami and La Paz in Leyte province.
The city government will extend monetary aid to families wishing to return to their hometowns for their fare and a little allowance.
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