‘Want to help fire victims? Provide permanent relocation’
FIRE victim Nenette Bontilao started to rebuild her house in fire-razed sitio Avocado, barangay Lahug last night.
“Pasalamat mig dako sa syudad kay pabalikon pa gyod mi, pero ambot lang kaha ani kung unsay lakaw ani basta ang importante makatukod lang sa mi,” said one of the fire victims. (We’re very thankful to the city government because they allowed us to rebuild. I’m not sure about our future here but what’s important right now is that we are able to rebuild.)
Bontilao is among the 59 home owners who were each allotted 34 square meters following the reblocking yesterday.
An eight-meter main road and two-meter roads between the houses are also part of the reblocking plan.
Classes are set to resume today, forcing the fire victims to vacate the Lahug Elementary School that they have been occupying since the fire struck on December 26.
The informal settlers in sitio Avocado, which is part of the University of the Philippines (UP) Cebu property, were earlier given until 2018 to vacate the area.
Bontilao said she received the notice to vacate last October.
After the fire, however, UP Cebu said it will pursue the construction of a building for UP High School in the area as part of its expansion plan.
The university offered a two-hectare relocation site in Nivel Hills in barangay Busay for the fire victims.
UP Cebu Dean Liza Corro said relocating the informal settlers is a long-term solution.
“Real help is offering them a permanent settlement. If City Hall can clear a place affected by fire in two to three days, then they can develop the Nivel Hills relocation site into a better place instead of reblocking and letting these people return to a temporary home under the guise of permanence,” Corro said.
Cebu City Councilor Mary Ann de los Santos, who served as barangay Lahug chairperson for 21 years, expressed support for UP.
“Everyone’s priority are the fire victims. The Nivel Hills relocation is a long-term solution for them. The city has no right to pursue the reblocking. This is UP Cebu’s property, and the city government should respect that,” de los Santos said in a telephone interview.
The area affected by the fire is around 3,000 square meters, said Collin Rosell, head of the Division for the Welfare of the Urban Poor (DWUP).
He explained that although 241 families were displaced and close to 100 structures razed by the fire, only 59 were assigned lots because they are the legitimate home owners.
Renters and sharers were not included in the allocation of lots.
City Administrator Lucelle Mercado said City Hall has yet to distribute housing materials to the victims.
“Instead of the usual GI sheets and plywood, the city and the victims agreed to convert it to hollow blocks and cement. What’s important now is that they can already get their assigned lots. We will be distributing the materials later on,” she said.
Clearing of the area was completed Saturday night and City Hall personnel proceeded with the survey and reblocking yesterday, despite objections by UP Cebu personnel.
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