ILOILO City – An initial batch of financial assistance was released to fire victims in barangays West Habog-Habog and San Juan, Molo district yesterday at Baluarte Elementary School.
Each of the over 300 affected families received P10,000.
The cash assistance, coursed through the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Region 6, was from the offices of Sen. Christopher “Bong” Go (P5,000) and House Speaker Martin Romualdez (P5,000).
It was the office of Iloilo City’s Rep. Julienne “Jamjam” Baronda that facilitated the distribution of a total of P3.1-million financial assistance to the affected families.
Joining Baronda were DSWD-6 regional director Carmelo Nochete, Assistant Regional Director for Operations Arwin Razo, Iloilo City Social Welfare and Development Office (CSWDO) Crisis Intervention section head Lisa B. Camacho, CSWDO head Terry Gelogo, CSWDO-Molo head Day Mar Centeno, punong barangays Lee Quising and Pascual Espinosa, and Bing Juaneza who represented Go, among others.
“We have to live for our children. We need to make sure nga kon may mga problema nga gakatabu sa aton kinanglan naton ini atubangon kag batuan,” said Baronda, citing how the city raised and fought back against the pandemic.
“Buhi kita, balay lang ang nadula. It is on us kon paano naton atubangon ini with positivity,” she added.
The lady solon vowed to secure more help for the fire victims. She already sought the help of the National Housing Authority (NHA), which may give an additional P5,000 in cash assistance to each affected family.
Sen. Imee Marcos will also visit the fire victims on Saturday, Feb. 4. She is expected to give another P5,000 in cash assistance to each affected family.
On Jan. 28, a conflagration razed adjacent barangays of West Habog-Habog and San Juan. The early morning fire affected nearly 300 houses of informal settlers.
According to the CSWDO, 195 houses in Barangay West Habog-Habog were totally damaged while three were partially damaged. In Barangay San Juan, 72 houses were totally gutted and 14 were partially damaged.
Mayor Jerry P. Treñas, meanwhile, said the city government plans to purchase the 1.6-hectare fire-hit private property and partner with the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development to build a medium-rise tenement there.
“Para maplastar ang pagbalik sang mga pumuluyo da. Timely man kay may program ang national government to build one million houses (each year). Pwede kita mag-partner sa national government,” said Treñas./PN