Tejero fire victims get P5,000 to P20,000 cash aid from Cebu City gov’t

The victims of two recent fire incidents that broke out in Barangay Tejero, Cebu City on September 10,2023 received cash aid from the local government on Saturday, September 30. | Photo from the Cebu City PIO

CEBU CITY, Philippines — The 135 victims of two consecutive fires that hit Barangay Tejero, Cebu City on the same day received financial assistance ranging from P10,000 to P20,000 from the Cebu City government.

The distribution of the cash aid, which amounted to P1,310,000, were released to the 135 fire victims by the local government through the Department of Social Welfare and Services (DSWS) on Saturday, September 30, 2023.

READ: 2 fire incidents in Brgy. Tejero on Sept. 10

How much aid Tejero fire victims received

These were 135 residents affected by two separate fires in Sitio Laurente and Sitio Back Blessed in Barangay Tejero, Cebu City on Sunday, September 10, 2023.

The owners of the 27 houses that were found to be totally burned in both fires were given a total of P20,000 cash each. 

Aside from that, the owners of the two partially burned houses also received the same amount of P20,000.

READ: Tejero fire: Arson suspected

Owners of partially burned houses

According tho the Cebu City government’s Public Information Office (PIO), P10,000 cash was also given to each of the 28 house sharers or extended families and 39 renters affected by the fires.

For the absentee owners of three houses and 29 lodgers, the government provided each of them with P5,000 cash aid.

The first fire on September 10, 2023, hit a residential area  that hit on September 10, along the U. Alviola Street in Sitio Back Blessed, Barangay Tejero, on Sunday afternoon. 

The incident reportedly caused an estimated damage to property worth P2.4 million.

READ: Tejero fire: 150 left homeless, intentionally set?

Second fire hit Tejero

Firefighters raised the fire to the 2nd alarm at 1:54 p.m and placed it under control at 2:09 p.m. It was declared fire out at 2:15 p.m.

Hours later another fire broke out,  this time at a 350 square-meter area in Sitio Laurente that was reported at around at 8:03 p.m.

It was raised by personnel of the Cebu City Fire Station to the 3rd alarm at 8:26 p.m. and was placed under control at 8:44 p.m.

The fire was declared fire out at 8:50 p.m.

The damage to properties caused by the second fire in the barangay on the same day was reportedly pegged at P4.2 million.

On the other hand, some housing materials were given to the owners of the seven slightly damaged houses because of the fire.

READ:BFP: Valenzuela warehouse fire doused after 2 days, displaced 819 people

September 29 fire victims aid still processed

However, the value of the housing materials has not been revealed yet.

The PIO also said that according to the DSWS, the victims of a fire that happened in the same barangay on Thursday, September 29, were not yet among those who received the cash aid and that the help for them was still being processed.

The recent fire incident took place in Sitio Tevil Villagonzalo at around 1:39 p.m. and was declared fire out at 8:50 p.m. 

The fire reportedly gutted down 23 houses, and partially damaged five more, which caused 35 families or 150 residents to be displaced.

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