The construction of a new Home for the Blind to be occupied solely by the blind and their families is being studied, City Social Welfare Officer Alma Gustilo said Monday, January 15.
A P4.3 million fire hit the Home for the Blind in Purok Paglaum, Barangay Mansilingan, Bacolod City, on Saturday, leaving 20 families with 83 members homeless.
Gustilo said some of those affected by the fire are asking to be transferred to the city’s relocation sites.
She said of the 20 families affected by the fire, only eight had blind family members.
That is because through the years the children of the blind who have families of their won have been allowed to stay in the Home for the Blind, she said.
The city government provides food subsidy for 56 blind persons and their families at the home, she said.
She said the occupants of the structures that were destroyed by the fire have been relocated to the Mansilingan gymnasium.
They have been provided with food and non-food aid, and the release of financial assistance is also being processed, Gustilo said.
The fire on Saturday destroyed two buildings and a house owned by the Department of Social Services and Development of Bacolod City, FO2 Anthony Val Isansa said on Sunday.
Two other houses were also damaged, he said.*