Thursday, October 23, 2008 Fire victims accuse village execs of giving them rags By Carlo P. Mallo
FIRE victims of Leon Garcia Street were offended over the quality of the relief goods distributed to them, especially the clothes that were allegedly no better than rags.
Some residents, who requested anonymity for fear of reprisal, said the donated clothing materials were already pre-selected by some officials of the barangay before these were distributed to the fire victims.
"Napili-an na man ang mga sanina, mura na gani og trapo ang ilang gipanghatag (The clothes have already been pre-selected, it was already like they gave out rags)," a resident said, adding that the clothes included torn panties and shirts that could no longer be used.
"Magsugod ta ani sa zero, kay ultimo ang tabang na hinatag dili man mapuslan (We will be starting from zero, as even the help that was extended is of no use)," another resident said.
The residents have yet to rebuild their houses and properties that were razed to the ground last October 10. Based on the official report of the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP), the fire razed 90 houses and two school buildings in the coastal village of Leon Garcia, Davao City.
Damages were estimated to have reached P5 million.
The affected families are temporarily staying at the Leon Garcia National High School gym.
The City Government has already provided the families a number of family food packs and basic utensils as well as a P10,000 cash gift to help them start anew.
