MARKET FIRE DAMAGES PEGGED AT P40 MILLION

April 8, 2023 Metro BLISTT

BAGUIO CITY

The City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (CDRRMO) reported that the estimated damages infected by the 5-hour fire that gutted Blocks 3 and 4 of the city public market last March 11-12, 2023 was pegged at close to P40 million. CDRRMO officer-in- charge Antonette Anaban said
that the latest estimated damages to public and private properties was a result of the post-disaster
needs assessment that was conducted by the local government on the said fire incident.

She disclosed that the estimated damage cost to the structures including depreciation cost was set at P27 million, the burned vehicle of the Public Order and Safety Division (POSD) – P1.49 million,
damaged goods – P10.8 million, damaged power lines – P72, 000 and the damaged perimeter
streetlights installed by the City Engineering Office (CEO) – P104,000 or a total estimated damage of P39.8 million.

On the foregone losses that included the lost income of the affected vendors and the revenue of the local government, Anaban claimed that the same was estimated to be around P6.150 million composed of P5.1 million lost income of the affected vendors computed at the daily rate of P400 multiplied by the number of affected vendors and P1.050 million in terms of arrival fees supposedly
collected by the local government.

The CDRRMO official said that the local government also incurred unexpected expenses, particularly on the relocation of the affected entrepreneurs amounting to P8 million and logistical expenses amounting to P3.75,000 or a total of P8.375 million. In terms of food packs, the local government received around P3.556 million from donors, particularly P2.091 million worth of food packs from Senator Sherwin Gatchalian, P700,000 worth of canned goods from Senator Christopher Lawrence Go, P520,000 worth of rice packs from Senator Robinhood Padilla and P245,000 worth of rice bags from Vice President Sara Duterte.

For the Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situation (AICS), some P14.1 million was distributed by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) which came from the initiative of Senator Gatchalian and P4.98 million each from Senator Go and Senator Padilla purposely for the educational assistance of the beneficiaries of the fire victims. Some 350 qualified recipients will be getting financial assistance from the government’s Sustainable Livelihood Program (SLP) which
they could use to allow them to recover from the negative effects of the fire incident.

PIO/Dexter A. See