CEBU, Philippines — Devotees who wish to stay at the Devotee City, which is located in the open space of Compania Maritima, can avail of the free accommodation starting tomorrow.
The Cebu City government will officially open the Devotee City to individuals who are from far places and have no place to stay in the city.
City Executive Assistant II Janice Redulla said they installed almost 60 container vans as well as tents for devotees who will be in Cebu City for the Sinulog Festival this weekend.
The project is in partnership with the Cebu provincial government.
Councilor Eugenio Gabuya Jr., City Council’s chairman on public services committee, told The FREEMAN that the city government and Cebu Province spent P500,000 for the establishment of Devotee City.
Redulla said they expected more than 3,000 individuals who will avail of the free accommodation.
Last year, they recorded 3,131 devotees staying at the Devotee City. Most of the occupants were vendors who want to sell their local products in the city.
The provincial government conducted a pre-registration for transients so that they can be accommodated immediately upon their arrival.
The Department of Manpower Development and Placement (DMDP) will handle the registration of transients.
Upon registration, the occupants shall submit bus tickets that would certify that they are living beyond Carcar City in the southern part of Cebu and beyond Danao City in the north.
“Before, we accommodated 40 families. Now, we will accommodate about 50 families because usually, they will not stay there. They will just leave their things. The men will be out selling goods and only the mothers and children will sleep in their vans,” Redulla said.
She said the transients should observe cleanliness so that the surroundings will be orderly and neat.
They will post house rules written in Cebuano dialect at the entrance of the Devotee City.
There are garbage bins and portable toilets installed for the occupants. — MBG (FREEMAN)