P1.2-M released to Tondo fire victims

The city government of Manila has released a P1.2 million emergency fund to assist the victims of Sunday’s fire in Tondo, Manila which razed at least 150 houses.

Dr. Jose Baranda, chief of Manila Department of Social Welfare (MDSW), said the fund came from the city’s special activity fund and will finance the relief operations for the victims as well as the reconstruction of their houses.

"We have been feeding the victims three times every day, and we have distributed clothes to their children," Baranda said.

The house owners, he added, will also receive P3,000 each for the reconstruction of their houses.

Baranda clarified that 240 families, not 400 as earlier reported, lost their homes in the six-hour blaze but not all of them will be granted reconstruction materials since most were merely tenants. — Edu Punay