Fire victim succumbs to stress due to fire, demolition

CEBU, Philippines - These were reportedly the last words of Leonora Abordonado, 56, minutes before she died of a heart attack in her house in Sitio Lubi, Barangay Luz, last Wednesday afternoon.

Leonora's house was one of those hit by last week's fire and slated for impending demolition. Her daughter Maricel Bayun-on, said the stress of the fire and demolition took their toll on her mother and may have eventually killed her.

"Na-stress gyud sya pagsunog. Pag Martes, na-stress na siya kaayo. Dili na siya mikaon kay kahibawo na niya mag-demolish kanang sheriff kuwan sa kanang court order. Walay na gyud siya mikaon," Bayun-on said.

"Nasunugan na gani mi, ma-demolish pa gyud. Mao ra na nag-cause sa iyang stress. Siguro ang iya huna-huna kanang naguol ra siya kayo," she added.

Bayuno-on said a few days before the fire they brought her mother to the hospital where she was diagnosed with diabetes. However, Bayun-on said her mother refused to be confined there.

Task Force on Urban Conscientization, a mission partner of the Association of Major Religious Superiors in the Philippines, mourned the death of Abordonado.

"TFUC-AMRS Cebu prayed with the affected residents for enlightenment of all concerned and for the dignity of the human person to be respected," TFUC chairman Fr. Cris Mostajo said in a press statement.

Meanwhile, Luz Barangay Captain Rian Tante said Cebu north district Rep. Cutie del Mar has donated P1,000 per family in addition to the P10,000 given to each family by the Cebu City government. He added that they are still waiting for the construction supplies to be distributed to the fire victims.

Tante said the Barrio Luz Elementary School, where 300 displaced families are currently housed, must be vacated by next week ahead of the Brigada Eskwela, the preparations for the start of classes.

But Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama has ordered the Department of Education to postpone the Brigada Eskwela at the school at least until a few days before the opening of classes as the fire victims have not yet rebuilt their homes.

The city government is willing to provide manpower to the DepEd for the Brigada Eskwela.

Rama also said that the road restoration operations have started to restore the road up to six meters. Wider roads, Rama said, will provide easy access for emergency vehicles in case of emergencies such as fires.

The homeowner associations in sitios Mabuhay, Lubi and Nangka in Barangay Luz have rejected the offer of the city government to purchase the lots of occupied by the families due for demolition.

The houses of some 70 families were ordered demolished by the court after they lost in a case against the Mabuhay Homeowners Association, Lubi Homeowners Association, Nangka Homeowners Association and the Cebu provincial government.

These families formed the Barrio Luz Urban Poor Association (BLUPA) filed a case against the three homeowners and the provincial government because they resisted the community mortgage program.

The lot they are occupying is owned by the province under Provincial Ordinance 93-1. The families resisted the mortgage because they want to directly pay the province and not buy it from the homeowner associations.

Rama earlier offered to purchase the lot from the homeowner associations so they can assume the collection of payment from the residents but Division for the Welfare of the Urban Poor head Collin Rosell said that the homeowner associations refused because they said the case is already final.

Rosell said DWUP will explore other options to help the families.

More than 2, 000 people were left homeless in last week's fire.

In 1957, the late president Ramon Magsaysay declared that the lots in Barangay Luz shall be disposed to the actual occupants. This was why the area was named after his wife Luz Banzon-Magsaysay. —/BRP (FREEMAN)