Fire victims in Bacoor evacuate anew due to flooding

Victims of a fire in Zapote 3 in Bacoor, Cavite had to leave the evacuation center they had been staying in after it was hit by flooding during the onslaught of Severe Tropical Storm Enteng on Monday.

According to Marisol Abdurahman’s report in “24 Oras” on Tuesday, the evacuees had been staying at a covered court after their homes were razed by fire nearly a month ago.

“Mahirap po kasi tapos manganganak pa ako,” a crying Rhoda Saquilayan said. “Nasunugan na, binaha pa.” 

(It’s very hard for me especially since I’m pregnant…We lost our homes to fire, and now we've been flooded.)

To make things worse, the evacuees had not been able to salvage some of the relief goods they had been been depending on, including sacks of rice.

“Sobrang bilis po kasi ng tubig, kaya yung mga bigas po namin nasayang po talaga,” one of the evacuees said. 

(The water level rose so fast we weren't able to save the rice.) 

In the case of Junior Solayao, he was able to save one sack of rice after making sure that his wife and five-month-old infant were safe. 

“Una sa isip ko yung bigas mismo, kasi kailangan, pagkain po,” he said. 

(The rice was the first thing on my mind because it’s a necessity. We need something to eat.) 

According to the local government of Bacoor, 600 families or around 2,000 individuals who lost their homes to fire need to be evacuated again to a new evacuation center. This is apart from those who were affected by the high floods during Enteng. 

“Hindi po namin na-expect talaga, kahit po kami nabigla. Kahit yung aming mga matataas na lugar… binabaha ngayon,” said Bacoor City Mayor Strike Revilla. 

(We didn’t expect this to happen, even we were surprised. There are now floods even in high areas in our city.) 

According to the report, 31 out of the 47 barangays in the city were submerged in floodwaters. Meanwhile, there were 33 evacuation centers for those who were affected by the tropical cyclone. — Vince Angelo Ferreras/BM, GMA Integrated News