Rising from the ashes: The fire victims of Isla Puting Bato

On May 11, a fire razed the shanty community of Isla Puting Bato in Tondo. Because most of the homes in the community were made from light materials, the fire quickly reached the highest fire alert level used by firefighters.  Around 5,000 residents or 1,200 families were left homeless. After the fire, Sandra Aguinaldo and her “I-Witness” documentary team visited the displaced residents who were temporarily housed at the Delpan Sports Complex.  Here, they documented the daily struggles of the fire victims, for whom even the daily rituals of bathing, dressing, and eating had become burdensome ordeals. How do people, who have so little in life, begin to recover after losing their homes and all their belongings to a devastating fire? What are the government’s plans for the displaced families of Isla Puting Bato? Watch an excerpt from the documentary below: I-Witness airs on Mondays after Saksi. Visit their webpage for video clips and follow them on Facebook and Twitter.—PF, GMA News