Residents lost everything in a fire that raged before midnight on February 4 at Baseco compound in the Port Area in Manila.
Initial reports placed those affected at 600 families, but the Manila Department of Social Work tallied 1,033 affected by the fire the morning after.
Many residents returned to where their homes were to try to salvage any properties left – but the fire was not too kind.
Before the fire, residents have feared the Baseco Reclamation Project, one of 19 projects under the Manila Bay reclamation project of the local and national government, would displace as many as 15,000 as one government agency said the 20-meter easement will be implemented.
Fire survivors are staying in an evacuation area in the barangay and are in need of food, clothes, medical supplies for children and blankets.
Since the late 1970s, urban poor residents in Baseco compound were forced out and resettled due to various political upheavals in the country, following political interests of the current president and due to development projects intended for the area.
