Fire in T. Villa Cebu City

The scene of people hurriedly carrying their things away from their burning houses and the cries of women looking for their children almost broke my heart while I was covering the fire in T. Villa early noon today. At least 150 houses were destroyed in the blaze that started in the house of a former policeman. And since the area was densely populated and pathways are too narrow for firetrucks to penetrate, the blaze easily licked the houses spanning three sitios.

As of this writing, no one was reported missing or injured in the incident. And I hope there won't be. It's already enough that people lost their homes.

The perennial problem of low water supply and narrow pathways again surfaced in today's fire. Residents had to use their own water sources to douse off the fire. But to no avail because the heavy winds fanned the blaze to further destroy more houses.

Here's hoping that there won't be any fire incidents anymore.

Cebu's 441st Founding Anniversary

It's a holiday in the entire province of Cebu today, including the component cities of Cebu, Lapu-Lapu, and Mandaue, in observance of the 441st Founding Anniversary of Cebu.

August 6 every year is declared special non-working holiday through the enactment of Republic Act 8952 in July 26, 1999, which amended Republic Act 7698, the original Charter of the Cebu province.

No one knows how the Cebuanos lived 441 years ago but it sure is interesting to know. I, and I know a lot of you too, would love to see artifacts, photos, or anything that would give us a glimpse of Cebu in the past. But then, there were no digital cameras nor blogs during that time so I guess it would be very hard to find photos of Cebuanos 400 years ago (I think the camera wasn't built during that time yet hehehe).

Congratulations to the Province of Cebu for its 441st Founding Anniversary. Will be going to the Capitol grounds later today to buy vegetables, fruits, and some fresh products that are now on sale at the agri-fair.

Motorcycles and crimes in Cebu

There is an atmosphere of fear among businessmen in the city following the series of ambush perpetrated by motorcycle-riding gunmen in Cebu. Last Wednesday, a businesswoman survived a slay-try in Mandaue City. Thursday night, a DPWH official was killed in an ambush staged by motorcycle-riding men.

It seemed to have become so easy for gunmen to kill almost anyone in Cebu. In Compostela, a motorcycle-riding gunman killed the town's former mayor. Last week and several weeks ago, a number of people have been killed by gunmen boarding motorcycles.

Motorcycles are the vehicles of choice for criminals because it can easily be maneuvered and it can go into narrow roads and paths that cannot easily be accessed by cars and other vehicles. Motorcycles can also speed up and get lost in a matter of seconds.

The police should feel ashamed of themselves for the series of shootings taking place in Cebu. While authorities keep telling the media that they cannot solve crimes without the help of the public, they should put in mind that it is the job of the police and not of the public to prevent and solve crimes.

Where are the checkpoints?

The police should reactive Task Force Motorsiklo and strictly go after motorcycle riders without any exemption. Habal-habal drivers must also be monitored as there are reports that some of them are into criminal activities.

Put up checkpoints not only in major streets. Bring the cops into dark alleys and roads. Random checkpoint is the word. Surprise criminal elements by blocking them before they can even stage a crime.

We want more checkpoints around the city. Else, Cebu will become a haven for gun-for-hires, robbers, and other criminals.

In Cebu, short rain causes flooded streets

It's been raining the past days in Cebu and farmers in mountain areas are happy. After a long dry season that has destroyed several thousands of hectares of farmlands, rain now takes place almost everyday, quenching the thirsts of rice and corn fields.

But with the rainy season comes "flood season" in the city. The other night, it rained so hard that Colon street was literally flooded, forcing Gaisano Main to close shop at 6 p.m. because floodwater was already sipping into its ground floor. It also created monster traffic jams because vehicles had to stop at the sight of waist-deep flood around the city.

We are hoping that the city government will clean up canals and drainage around the city in order to allow water to flow naturally towards the sea and not on the street. Ang nakaporke man gud is that we only see city works cleaning up canals and drainage after the occurence of flood. Manguros lang kung mokilat na, so to speak.