Davao City – President Rody Duterte has directed the Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA) to tap “all government agencies” and lead the effort to rebuild the lives of over over 1,500 Tausug families who homes were razed by a fire on Feb. 3.
Shortly after the 46th Cabinet Meeting in Malacanang on Tuesday, I informed the President of the dire situation of the fire victims who now stay in several makeshift areas, including a government gymnasium.
He directed me to link up with other agencies of government like the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD), the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP) and the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).
MinDA will also engage the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) for construction materials needed to rebuild the homes of the fire victims.
On Monday, Feb. 10, a team from MinDA will fly to Jolo to meet with local leaders headed by Gov. Sakur Tan and Sulu Sultan Maedzul-Lail Tan Kiram and to check on the condition of the fire victims.
The BARMM, through Ministry of Interior Secretary Naguib Senarimbo, has already dispatched teams to Jolo to intially deliver relief goods.
“The most critical need of the fire victims would be housing in a relocation area,” Sultan Kiram said in his message to me on Tuesday, a day after the fire.
A total of 1,572 families from Barangay Chinese Pier, Takut Takut and Tulay lost homes in a fire which broke out 9 a.m. of Feb. 3.
The fire victims are either staying with relatives or in the two evacuation centres in Jolo town proper, the Santanina Sports Complex and Hadji Hassiman Elem. School.
President Duterte also asked me to relay to the people of Jolo his concern for their welfare and directed MinDA to fast-track the delivery of interventions to the fire victims.
(The first two photos were downloaded from the websites of CNN and Philippine Star. The other photos were provided by Sultan Kiram to MinDA.)
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