THE Davao City Social Welfare and Development Office (CSWDO) disclosed on their recent initial assessment that the two-hour blaze at Purok 5, 6, and 6-A at Soliman in Barangay Monteverde on Tuesday, November 15, yielded P8.419 million worth of damages.
Of the figure, P4.680 million is the cost of damages for houses and P3.739 million is for the belongings of around 300 affected families.
In an interview with Robert Diaz, barangay captain of Kapitan Tomas, Monteverde, the city government office and the CSWDO have yet to release and verify reports as assessments are still ongoing due to the number of households and individuals affected by the incident.
“Padayon gihapon ang assessment sa atoang gobyerno ug sa CSWDO pero dili dayon ma-release ang updated nga report gumikan nga daghan gyud na mga household ang apektado (The government and the CSWDO are still conducting their assessment but the updated report will not be released immediately due to the fact that many households have been affected),” he said.
“No specific timeline pud kung kanus-a or until when sila muhawa ang mga evacuees diri, siguro kanang mga makabangon-bangon na gyud sila (There is also no specific timeline as to when or until when the evacuees will leave here, maybe once they are able to do so),” the official added.
On the other hand, in an interview with Alma Sanchez, an affected resident of Purok 6, she said that it was hard for them to gather their belongings due to the swift spread of the fire.
“Lisod kaayo nga isalba pa namo amoang mga gamit gumikan nga kusog ug paspas nga pagkuyanap sa sunog. Wala na mi nakuha sa amoang mga gamit (It was very difficult for us to save our belongings due to the intensity and the rate the fire has spread. We were not able to get our things),” she said.
Sanchez also described that she was not expecting the blaze to reach their area since the fire originally broke out hundred meters away from their residence.
“Layo pa ang kalayo, wala mi [nag-andam]. Nakuratan na lang mi. Wala gyud mi nagdahom nga muabot kay layo ra gyud. Pila ka metro o kilomtero man gani ang amoang agwat. Uban man gani wala naka-andam pud. Wala gyud mi nagtoo kay layo jud sya (The fire was still far. We did not [prepare]. We were shocked. We never expected the fire to reach our house because it was so far. The distance was meters or even kilometers away. Others did not even prepare. We really did not expect),” she added
As per the initial investigation conducted by the BFP-Davao headed by the City Fire District Intelligence, and Investigation Section Chief (DCFDI), SFO4 Ramil Gillado, a faulty electric wire from a certain building may have caused the fire.
Currently, more than 300 displaced families were evacuated at two Barangay gymnasiums - Barangay Monteverde and Leon Garcia gymnasiums. DEF
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