Fire victims residing inside the CICC compound in Mandaue City and who are identified as renters or sharers, stage a protest in front of the Mandaue City Hall on Thursday, June 27. | Mary Rose Sagarino
MANDAUE CITY, Cebu — Mandaue fire victims residing inside the CICC compound have demanded that they be given a relocation site by the city government.
Some members of the Tipolo Fire Victims (TFV), an alliance of CICC residents who are identified as renters and sharers, staged a protest in front of the Mandaue City Hall at past 11 a.m on Thursday, June 27.
The protesters believe that, despite being renters and sharers, they are still Mandaue City constituents.
They are the renters and sharers or the extended family of the house owners who are victims of the massive fire in Barangay Guizo in 2016 and Barangay Tipolo in 2019 who are currently residing inside the CICC compound.
READ:
Fire victims living at CICC compound to be transferred this month
Looc fire victims among beneficiaries of housing project in Tipolo
They claimed that the city government will only award house owners to avail the transitory housing across the CICC and condominium type housing project (Tipolo Residences) in Brgy. Tipolo.
Margie Sulapas, 44, said she hoped that the city would be fair and also give them a relocation site since they too are Mandaue fire victims.
Sulapas is originally from Leyte, and married her husband who is a resident of Brgy. Tipolo who was staying under his parent’s house.
They then built their own house when they were relocated inside the CICC compound five years ago.
Sulapas said that they will not leave CICC if they were not given a relocation site.
“Dili man mi magkasinabot sa ako ugangan…Ang amo ra gyud nga naa mi kapuy-an, kabalhinan mao ra man amo hangyo sa HUDO kay asa man mi nila ibutang, manghunaw man sila, dili man sila mangilabot sa sharers ug renters kay dili kuno na problema sa gobyerno,” said Sulapas.
The city government is set to hold the ground breaking of the new city hall or the one-stop-shop government center at the CICC in August.
Vincent Guy Aquino, project coordinator of the City Housing Urban and Development Office (HUDO), said that they have been conducting talks with the settlers inside CICC including renters and sharers.
Aquino said that home owners who are Mandaue fire victims are the primary beneficiaries of the city’s condominium type housing project and transitory housing. The beneficiaries are set to be transferred next month.
There are 194 beneficiaries for the first two buildings of the Tipolo Residences and 332 units at the transitory housing. Currently, there are over 500 families living inside the CICC compound.
However, he said that renters and sharers are enrolled with the Pambansang Pabahay Para sa Pilipino Program (4PH).
“Ang atoang Pasilong aduna may limit sa atoang pagpasulod. Unfortunately, tungod kay aduna poy uban dagkong pamilya, mao nay amoang gikuan karun nga the rest sa family gi-enroll nato sa 4PH while waiting sa atoang permanent sa atoang third, fourth, and fifth building (Tipolo Residences, city’s housing project),” said Aquino.
But Sulapas said that there are no construction of buildings for the national’s housing program in Mandaue yet.
HUDO Beneficiaries Selection Committee Community Officer Fatima Lapiña said that Mandaue fire victims who can still share with their families are allowed to join them at the transitory housing.