Home by Christmas: Tondo fire victims get P21 million assistance

MANILA, Philippines — Residents in Tondo displaced by a recent fire will be home by Christmas, President Marcos said as he distributed P21 million in financial aid and relief items to victims.

“I promised one of our companions in the evacuation center: if we fail to bring you home by Christmas, I would come here and have a party, we will be happy and we will have a merry Christmas together,” Marcos said at the Rosauro Almario Elementary School yesterday, coinciding with the 161st birth anniversary of national hero Andres Bonifacio, who was born in Tondo on Nov. 30, 1863.

Financial aid and food packs from the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and blankets and sleeping mats from the Office of the President were given to 2,100 fire victims.

Each displaced family head received P10,000 in cash aid and food packs under the DSWD’s Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situation program.

Marcos noted that the Department of Health has deployed medical teams to serve people at evacuation centers.

The Nov. 24 fire razed the houses of at least 2,114 families or 6,957 people at Isla Puting Bato in Tondo.

Some of the affected residents are temporarily staying at the Delpan evacuation center in Barangay 29 and were visited by Marcos before the aid distribution.