ZAMBOANGA CITY – A massive fire swept through neighborhood in the capital town of Jolo in the southern Muslim province of Sulu and left one villager dead and at least 8 injured in one of the worst conflagrations in the past decade.
The fire, which started shortly after noontime Tuesday, continued for more than 8 hours that displaced some 30,000 people in the villages of Busbus, Lambayong and Walled City. Governor Toto Tan dispatched teams of social workers and rescue teams and civilian volunteers to help those affected by the conflagration.
Tan quickly provided food aid to the fire victims as the Bureau of Fire Protection continues to investigate the cause of the conflagration. Estimate to the damage it left was not immediately available.
Governor Mujiv Hataman, of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), flew to Jolo town Wednesday to personally see the situation there and ordered relief goods to be distributed among those displaced by the fire.
“Thousands of families just lost their homes to two fires that ravaged Busbus, Walled City and Lambayong in Jolo. We have put together relief packages that included Malong mats, pails, towels, basins, cups, children’s clothing, as well as sacks of rice and sardines. Once we have determined the number of people who need assistance and what assistance they need, more help will be provided as fits their needs,” said Director Amir Mawallil, of the ARMM Bureau of Public Information.
Mawallil, a native of Sulu, said many of fellow workers and relatives were also left homeless by the huge fire and he also appealed for additional aid for the fire victims.
“Some of the people affected by the fire are my fellow workers in the ARMM regional government. One of the homes that burned to the ground belonged to my aunt. I have many relatives who were affected by the fire in Busbus. In this moment of dire need, I must tap the vaunted fierceness of the Tausug that runs in my veins—in the veins of all Tausug.”
“We are resilient, tough people who have survived much and risen from the ashes time and again. While we are doing all we can to get aid to our fellow Tausugs as quickly as we can, we are also calling on Tausugs outside of Sulu who want to help. We still don’t know what the dawn will bring to these people who have just lost their homes. We have been praying, as well as working to get help to them. Please pray with us,” Mawallil said.
The fire broke out the same day Kusug Tausug party-list Representative Shernee Tan and former provincial governor Dr Sakur Tan sent relief goods to hundreds of people left homeless by a huge fire in Labuan village in Zamboanga City.
Director Fazlur Rahman Abdulla, of the Sulu Area Coordinating Center, said a total of 5,200 families were affected by the conflagration. “The Office of the Governor Committed to provide a bag of rice to every affected family through every possible means as there is no supply of NFA rice for the purpose, leaving no option but to secure commercial rice,” he said.
In April this year, dozens of families were also left homeless after a fire broke out in Jolo’s Alat village. And in September 2007, thousands of people had been displaced by a huge fire that consumed at least 500 houses in Asturias village. It left 9 people wounded. (Mindanao Examiner)
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