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| https://cebudailynews.inquirer.net/290703/259-houses-razed-in-cebu-city-blaze |
An early evening fire in Barangay Suba, Cebu City displaced hundreds of families after it razed 259 houses in a residential area in Sitio Santo Niño, Barangay Suba, Cebu City at past 7 p.m. of Wednesday, February 26, 2020.
Senior Fire Officer 1 Novo Erana of the Cebu City Fire Department, said that they estimated the damage to property at P1.5 million.
Meanwhile, Erana said that initial investigation showed that the fire started at the second floor ceiling of the house of a Jerry Cabido.
Because of this, they were verifying Cabido’s information and they were investigating the start of the fire to have been caused by faulty electrical wiring.
Based on Cabido’s statement, they heard a sparkling sound and then they started to smell a foul odor.
Erana said that the Cabido family after seeing thick smoke coming out of the second floor of their house, ran outside their house.
It only took a few minutes for the fire to eat up the second floor of the house of Cabido, which was made of light materials and the fire spread to nearby houses as well.
The final tally showed that the fire actually burned down 311 houses and displaced 638 families affecting 2,851 people altogether.
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| https://cebudailynews.inquirer.net/290794/close-to-3k-individuals-displaced-in-suba-fire |
The fire that broke out in Sitio Sto. Niño in Barangay Suba in Cebu City displaced close to 3,000 individuals.
Latest data from Suba Barangay Hall showed that the fire last Wednesday evening, February 26, 2020, burned down 311 houses, and displaced 638 families or 2,851 individuals.
Most of the people who lost their homes are now staying in three nearby evacuation sites – Pasil Sports Complex, Suba Sports Complex, and a barangay-owned covered court.
One of them is Susana Cortes, a 60 year-old sari-sari store vendor, who is now appealing for government officials to provide them financial assistance so they can rebuild their houses.
“Hopefully they can provide us financial assistance so we can build back our houses. We have no other places to think of staying,” said Susana.
Susana’s two-storey wooden house in Sitio Sto. Niño, Barangay Suba – which is just a few meters away from the seawall that separates the village and Mactan Channel – was totally damaged.
Susana said her family of 10 only managed to save their own lives, and several of their clothes.
They are now staying in Suba Sports Complex as they wait for clearance from the city disaster to rebuild their house.
Suba Barangay Captain Jojo Sable said Cebu Daily News Digital in an interview that the city government has started providing food and other basic needs to the victims.
“What they really need right now is food and basic necessities such as blankets,” Sable said.
He also said the victims can rebuild their homes since most of them have lot titles as proof of ownership.
The desire to rebuild your burned down house even if it is a flimsy wooden death trap is understandable. Be it ever so humble there is no place like home. But take a look at what constitutes home for these 2,851 people.
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| https://twitter.com/cebudailynews/status/1232877966163529728 |
These aerial photographs from Cebu Digital News show the extent of the damage. They also reveal that these 2,851 people were packed in together like sardines! People weren't the only occupants of this densely populated death trap. There were also animals.
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| https://cebudailynews.inquirer.net/290807/in-photos-barangay-suba-fire |
Dogs? Sure there were probably scores of them. Most definitely chickens too. But PIGS!!? In the middle of this cramped, tiny barangay in the middle of Cebu someone was raising PIGS!! Imagine the smell and the absolute filth that permeated this barangay. Where exactly did the pig manure go? Not to mention all the liquid and solid leavings of the dogs, rats, cats, chickens, and humans. And 2,851 people were squeezed into this place calling it home.
The government would be absolutely foolish to let these people rebuild. They were foolish to allow these miniature lots to be sold and "homes" to be built on them in the first place. One spark and the whole thing went up in flames. These shanty towns in every city in the country pose a danger to everyone who lives in them as well as to nearby residences and businesses. Not only fire hazards pose a danger but also the deteriorated health conditions which comes with having so many people in one tight place. Foul air, polluted still water, litter, animal wastes, they all contribute to the spread of disease.
The government would be absolutely foolish to let these people rebuild. They were foolish to allow these miniature lots to be sold and "homes" to be built on them in the first place. One spark and the whole thing went up in flames. These shanty towns in every city in the country pose a danger to everyone who lives in them as well as to nearby residences and businesses. Not only fire hazards pose a danger but also the deteriorated health conditions which comes with having so many people in one tight place. Foul air, polluted still water, litter, animal wastes, they all contribute to the spread of disease.
Now let's compare Barangay Suba with Provincetown, Massachusetts in the USA. Situated on Cape Cod this small town has a population of 3,000 people not counting the busy summer months when tourists flood the area. Here is what Provincetown looks like from the air.
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| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Provincetown,_Massachusetts |
It is rather hard to find a complete aerial picture of Provincetown because it is spread up and down the coast. What a difference from Barangay Suba with it's narrow streets and people stacked on top of one another. There are no piggeries in this town and it is doubtful dogs run loose. The air in Provincetown is also not a choking miasma. In short there is room to breathe and live. If a fire breaks out all 3,000 people will not lose their homes. Provincetown has had its share of fires most notably in 1998.
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| https://www.capecodtimes.com/news/20180209/looking-back-on-whalers-wharf-fire |
The fire destroyed 16 businesses in the Whalers Wharf complex, including owner Dale Elmer’s The Handcrafter store. Most of the Crown & Anchor Motor Inn to the east was destroyed, including three businesses. Smoke and water damaged Marine Specialities, a store to the west of Whalers Wharf.
The accidental electrical fire was caused by multiple space heaters in the caretaker’s room, according to Jennifer Mieth, a spokeswoman for the state fire marshal’s office.
The former movie theater, built in 1919, had been converted into artists stalls with leather, jewelry, seashells, pottery and more for sale. A psychic gave readings. A restaurant served food. In the makeshift setup inside the mall, extension cords ran under carpets and behind cabinets throughout the complex, according to the fire investigator’s report.
But despite the unsafe physical conditions, Elmer drew artists and potential artists to him with encouragement; a willingness to sell their work in his own shop; the $3,000 summer rent in the mall, with utilities included; and the ability to offer work to tide the artists over during the winter.
From another source we read:
Wooden buildings crowd close together in this small fishing village and art colony, where the streets are just 22 feet wide, including the sidewalks -- so narrow that firefighters had to remove parked cars to reach the blaze. A stronger wind might have spread the flames to the entire historic street, officials said.
“I hate it when there are fires down here,” said Provincetown firefighter Mike Smith. “The whole town could go up.”
As it was, some embers drifted inland over the tops of the buildings and set a grass fire near the Pilgrim Monument three blocks away, and residents with garden hoses doused the steeple of an adjacent church and other buildings.
“We’re lucky it wasn’t a conflagration,” said Allen Gallant, who climbed atop the steeple with a hose. “The buildings down there are so old and so close together.”
https://www.southcoasttoday.com/article/19980212/news/302129960
The similarities between the recent fire in Suba and the Whalers Warf fire in Provincetown are many. Both fires were the result of electrical conditions. Both areas were in unsafe physical condition. Both fires rapidly spread to nearby buildings which were built close together. The firemen were able to get it under control. However the whole of Provincetown did not go up in flames because it is spread out unlike Suba.
The people of Provincetown rebuilt and so will the people of Suba unfortunately.
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| https://cebudailynews.inquirer.net/290807/in-photos-barangay-suba-fire |
What will the people of Suba rebuild except the same wretched hive and warren which was destroyed by one spark from a faulty electrical connection? The city of Cebu should not allow this barangay to be rebuilt as it was. Cities across the Philippines should tear down these dangerous shanty towns.
That is in fact what Marcos ordered to happen back in 1977 in his Letter of Instruction no. 555 which was to institute a nationwide slum improvement and resettlement program (SIR).
That is in fact what Marcos ordered to happen back in 1977 in his Letter of Instruction no. 555 which was to institute a nationwide slum improvement and resettlement program (SIR).
4. The Local Government staff shall formulate a 3-year, a 5-year and a long-term on-going program for the improvement of slums and blighted areas and shall integrate these plans with the development plan of their city/municipality and with the efforts in housing of the National Housing Authority. The local city government is hereby directed to submit within 60 days from the constitution of the staff its Three-Year Plan to the National Housing Authority.
5. The program shall isolate each blighted area, and the local government through its staff shall formulate a project plan for the improvement of each area. The National Housing Authority is hereby directed to issue guidelines for the formulation of plans for improvement of areas.
https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/1977/06/11/letter-of-instruction-no-555-s-1977/
In effect the program was created in order to clean up the slums. What was the result of this program? The many slums of the Philippines forty-three years later tell us it was a failure. It turns out Barangay Suba is an SIR classified area.
Mayor Edgardo Labella said he will ask the NHA to give P30,000 each fire victim, the same amount it give to the Mabolo fire victims.
He said the city government is also giving each house owner P20,000 while P10,000 for renters and bed spacers.
The mayor assured that there is no lot problem in the area and that the fire victims can rebuild their houses anytime.
“There is no problem with the area, there is no lot issue because this is an area already classified by the slum improvement and resettlement (SIR),” said Labella.
The city government, however, is looking at the possibility of reblocking the area to ensure emergency access.
“These are already designated spaces since they are SIR, but nonetheless we will have to look into that so that if there is another fire dili ing-ana kadaghan ang ma sunog,” said Labella.
One of the problems encountered by the fire responders during the incident was the lack of emergency access. The fire department received the fire alarm at 6:15 p.m. but it took more than two hours to control the blaze.
https://www.philstar.com/the-freeman/cebu-news/2020/02/28/1996754/suba-fire-victims-get-cash-aid-city-nha
The over 600 families displaced by the fire in Barangay Suba, Cebu City can rebuild their homes under one condition.
A setback should be implemented.
This as Government officials from Barangay Suba and Cebu City plan to implement a setback in the affected area, which means that new structures that will be built in Sitio Sto. Niño should be at least a few meters away from the sidewalk.
Jojo Sable, Suba Barangay Captain, told Cebu Daily News Digital in an interview that there is a need to reclaim the sidewalks in their barangays.
“A lot of houses have already encroached the sidewalks in our barangay. We are now coordinating with the DWUP (Division of Welfare for the Urban Poor) to iron out more about this matter – including the required distance between the sidewalk and the houses,” Sable said in Cebuano.
Houses rebuilt with setbacks are usually erected at least five meters away from the sidewalk.
Sable also said the need to reclaim their sidewalks is important so that firefighters will have easy access in case another fire breaks out in their village.
“When the fire broke out, we observed how some houses have even covered the canals which are also one of the paths firefighters should have access to when there’s fire,” he added.
Barangays Suba and Pasil with huge public markets are expected to need massive clearing operations in their barangay roads
https://cebudailynews.inquirer.net/288935/probe-willing-to-assist-barangays-in-road-clearingTaking a look at the photos above there does not seem to be any sidewalk to speak of. Despite the fact that the government was told 43 years ago to clean up and improve the slums it is highly likely that if Barangay Suba is rebuilt it will be done in the same claustrophobic manner. That is just how it is in the Philippines.
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