MAYOR Honey Lacuna ordered the suspension of both face-to-face and online classes at the Gen. Vicente Lim Elementary School on Monday (Sept. 16, 2024) since it is being used as one of the evacuation centers for families who have been displaced by one of two separate fire incidents that hit residential areas in Tondo over the weekend which, as of latest count, has reached a total of 1,800 in all.
Lacuna’s spokesperson Atty. Princess Abante said that make-up classes will be held for the some 3,900 students of the said school and resumption of classes will be announced soonest.
The lady mayor, along with Vice Mayor Yul Servo and city councilors, personally went to the fire scene to check on the situation and assess the kind of help that would be needed considering how massive the conflagration was. Also with them were social welfare department chief Re Fugoso and Arnel Angeles, head of the Manila Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office (MDRRMO).
According to Fugoso, the affected families were made to fill out ‘family disaster cards’ for purposes of registration, record and needs assessment.
Lacuna directed all concerned local government units to provide all necessary and possible assistance that the city could provide for the victims, even as Servo also mobilized his ‘Lingkod-Bayan’ team to help the city units.
Immediately after the fire, the affected families were placed in evacuation centers where they were provided with food and water as well as partition tents as temporary shelter.
Fugoso said that Lacuna had already ordered the processing so that each of the families affected will be able to receive cash aid from the city government.
The mayor said that while the monetary assistance is expected to somehow help the displaced families start all over, adding that it is the city government’s small way of making them know that their local government is there for them.
While in temporary shelters, she assured that the local government will continue providing them with all the help possible.
Fire struck at 11:44 a.m. on Aroma Road 10 in Vitas, Tondo, while the other fire hit Balintawak Street also in Tondo at 2:30 p.m. No one was killed or injured in both incidents and arson investigators are looking into the cause of fire and the total estimated damage to property.
