Erap gives aid to 2,000 Tondo fire victims

MANILA, Philippines – Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada distributed construction materials yesterday to more than 2,000 Tondo residents who lost their homes in a fire reportedly caused by a firecracker on Jan. 1.

Around 550 families received sacks of cement, bags of gravel and sand, plywood, hollow blocks, steel bars and galvanized iron sheets, according to Barangay 155 chairman Zaldy Bernabe.

“We thanked Mayor Estrada for helping us rebuild our homes,” Bernabe said.

Estrada offered a monthly salary of P8,000 each for those who will work as construction helpers to rebuild the houses destroyed in the fire.

According to Bernabe, at least 130 houses went up in smoke when a fire struck barangays 155 and 160 following the New Year revelry, affecting 2,000 individuals.

Estrada said he personally solicited donations from his friends and the private sector to help the fire victims.

The mayor handed over to the residents three truckloads of imported clothes from Clark Field in Pampanga.

Estrada said with the help of volunteers and laborers from city hall, the affected families would be able to finish rebuilding their homes in a month.

“They are temporarily staying at a basketball court where they are given meals for breakfast, lunch and dinner by the city social welfare. We have placed portalets in the area,” he said.

Estrada said doctors were deployed to the evacuation site to attend to the health concerns of the residents.

Chapel saved by Nazarene from fire

Estrada said he plans to renovate the chapel in Dagupan Extension in Tondo, which according to the residents was saved by the Black Nazarene from the fire.

According to Bernabe, the chapel’s front wall and adjacent houses were razed by the fire.

“But the inner portion of the chapel where the Black Nazarene and other religious statues are housed was undamaged,” he said.

Estrada visited the chapel yesterday.

“I will have it repaired so that it can withstand natural calamities such as earthquake and typhoon,” he said.

Hundreds of thousands of Catholic devotees celebrated the feast of the Black Nazarene on Jan. 9.