The wake of siblings Jovielyn, 9, and John Mark, 2, who both died in last Monday’s (May 7) fire, is held in a small chapel at the Ermita covered court, which also serves as evacuation
center for some fire victims.
ERMITA FIRE TOLL
Another child failed to survive the dawn fire that razed over 300 houses in two sitios of Barangay Ermita, Cebu City, on Monday morning, bringing to three the number of children from the same family who died in the fire.
The fatality, Princess Mae Chavez, 7, succumbed to severe burns on Monday night at the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center (VSMMC), according to Cebu City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (CCDRRMO) chief Nagiel Bañacia. Chavez also happened to be the cousin of the other two fatalities, Jovielyn and John Mark Digman, ages 9 and 2, respectively, who were trapped in their house when the fire struck.
Chavez was the niece of Joel Digman, the father of the Digman children and who himself was injured and now in critical condition along with five other members of Digman’s extended family.
Joel’s live-in partner and the children’s mother, Ida Alolod, survived the fire unharmed.
Princess Mae was rushed to the VSMMC after rescuers found her unconscious in the same house with the Digmans.
The victim (Chavez) sustained serious burn injuries on different parts of her body.
During the fire, rescuers found her in the same house where the other two fatalities were found,” said Bañacia.
The rest who were still in critical condition aside from Joel were Felicidad Flores, 60; Eda Alolod, 34, and a sister of Ida; Edwena Alolod, 29; Casandra Alolod Echavez, 13; and Jennelyn Digman, 13, the eldest child of Joel and Ida.
All of them received serious burn injuries and were still undergoing treatment at the VSMMC, with Ida tending to her partner and daughter, said Bañacia.
Wooden coffins
In a separate interview, Ermita Barangay Captain Mark Miral said the Digman family has asked for assistance from local officials after the tragedy in order to give the two children a decent wake and burial.
“We donated wooden coffins for the children, and we allowed their family to hold the wake inside the barangay hall for the meantime,” said Miral.
The fire started in Digman’s house after Ida’s stove exploded around 5:46 a.m. on Monday.
It quickly spread and reached to Task Force Bravo at past 6 a.m., with fire stations from Danao City to Naga City sending fire trucks to help douse the fire.
The fire was only put under control at 8:06 a.m. or two hours later.
It affected Sitios Ermita Proper and Kawit and displaced over 2,500 individuals (759 families).
State of calamity affirmed
The tragedy prompted barangay officials of Ermita to place the two sub-villages under a state of calamity.
The Cebu City Council, in a mass motion during their regular session yesterday, affirmed the decision of Barangay Ermita officials to place the two sitios under a state of calamity.
In their separate resolutions, Councilors Mary Ann delos Santos and Joel Garganera likewise requested the CCDRRMO and other concerned departments of the Cebu City government to provide any kind of assistance to the victims as soon as possible.
The victims are now temporarily staying inside the Ermita Sports Complex and the Ermita Elementary School, and help from various concerned groups such as the Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI) have started to arrive, such as food and clothing.
The Cebu City government, on the other hand, is now processing the release of the P20,000 financial assistance to each affected family.
Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña said he would be donating a tent to each family, and promised to provide burial assistance to the families of the fatalities.
Setback, not re-blocking
Meanwhile, the city’s Division of Welfare of the
Urban Poor (DWUP) was considering to ensure there would be a road setback once residents begin to rebuild on the fire site, in case a road re-blocking would be too difficult to achieve.
The city government has been conducting road re-blocking in areas hit by fire incidents to enable large fire trucks to reach the interior parts of the community, and to quickly put out the fire.
DWUP operations officer Genevieve Alcoseba also urged victims not to rebuild their houses just as yet.
“We want the fire site to be a ground zero since the area still poses several risks and dangers,” said Alcoseba.
Alcoseba said they planned to meet the fire victims housed at the Ermita Elementary School tonight, May 9, at 6:00 p.m., to consult them on the plans to create a road setback, which provides for a safe distance between the road and the occupied area.
“Majority of the fire site is already titled lots. So we may have difficulty in doing road re-blocking. As much as we want to do a road re-blocking but with this case, a setback can be implemented immediately,” explained Alcoseba.
Setback refers to creating a buffer zone between a street and a building to prevent overcrowding and hazards brought by calamities like fire.
“In setbacks, if your house is near a pathway, we recommend to have it rebuilt at particular distance away from the pathway,” said Alcoseba.
“We will see what we can do after we conducted our consultation with the fire victims,” she added.
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