AID FOR FIRE VICTIMS. Department of Social Welfare and Development Assistant Regional Director for Administration Tonyson Luther Lee (second from right) hands over a family food pack to a fire victim in Mandaue City in this undated file photo. DSWD-7 (Central Visayas) regional director Shalaine Marie Lucero on Tuesday (April 9, 2024) said the agency distributed a total of PHP12.4 million worth of food, non-food, and cash assistance to 2,227 individuals who were victims of two separate fire incidents in Metro Cebu. (Photo courtesy of DSWD-7)
CEBU CITY – A total of 644 families comprising 2,227 individuals who are victims of two fire incidents in Metro Cebu received a total of PHP12.4 million worth of food, non-food and cash assistance, a social welfare official said Tuesday.
Shalaine Marie Lucero, regional director of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) in Central Visayas, said assistance worth PHP10.1 million was given to fire victims in Barangay Looc, Mandaue City last week, which comprised of cash aid, 1,356 family food packs and 470 sleeping kits.
The aid from the DSWD was on top of the PHP18.6 million worth of local aid extended by the Mandaue City government in the form of meals, water, and medical support.
Looc residents went homeless after a fire struck their community on March 12, affecting 515 families or 1,677 individuals, with 13 and 357 totally and partially damaged houses, respectively.
Meanwhile, fire-affected families in Cansojong, a village in Talisay City, received PHP2.3 million of assistance consisting of 369 family food packs, 127 10-liter bottled waters, 127 family kits, and 129 sleeping kits.
“The families also received cash assistance of PHP1.57 million through Assistance for Individuals in Crisis Situations (AICS) and the office of Congressman Rhea Gullas,” Lucero said.
The fire in Talisay City on March 19 left 129 families or 550 individuals homeless, with 125 and three totally and partially damaged houses, respectively.
The city government provided PHP1.58 million worth of meals, drinking water and emergency shelter assistance to the victims. (PNA)
