P.98M aid for 23-C fire victims

By ARMANDO B. FENEQUITO JR.
A total of P974,000 worth of assistance to fire victims was to be released late yesterday by the Davao City government to the 195 fire victims of the Barangay 23-C fire last week in Quezon Boulevard.
In an information released by the City Social Services and Development Office (CSSDO) yesterday morning, the turnover will be presided by no less than Mayor Rodrigo R. Duterte at the Jose Rizal Elementary School yesterday where the victims are temporarily housed.
Edge Davao learned the financial assistance is still on the process at the City Accounting Office as of presstime.
In an interview, CSSDO assistant head LiwaywayCaligdong told Edge Davao that the house owners got P10,000; P5,000 for the renters and sharers and P3,000 for the boarders.
Caligdong said the CSSDO reported 44 structures were gutted down in the April 1 fire. CSSDO recorded the victims as 39 house owners, 53 renters, 24 sharers and 72 boarders.
She added that 39 structures out of the 44 were totally damaged and five partially damaged.
Caligdong said food assistance were distributed to the victims as well as beddings and kitchen utensils last week.
“Nag augment pud ang DSWD (Department of Social Welfare and Development), naghatagsilag food assistance ogmga kitchen utensils. Likewise, ang PNRC (Philippine National Red Cross) ang augment pudog food assistance (The DSWD augmented and distributed food assistance and kitchen utensils. Likewise, the PNRC augmented the food distribution),” he said.
She said during the first night, they conducted community cooking because their personnel were still on the process of validation.
Caligdong said that it is almost one year when the huge fire happened last year were 3,500 families were affected.
Duterte said last week that the house owners could still rebuild their houses provided that the latter will get building permit.
In a report from Central 911, the fire lasted almost two hours and there are two victims were partially wounded that time.
The famous local seafoods restaurant Luz Kinilaw Place was among those burned down by the last week’s fire.