New hope awaits the thousands of residents who were displaced by the Christmas fire that razed down their houses.
The Office of Mayor Guia Gomez said a total of 1,585 families, or 7,492 individuals, lost their houses in the blaze. The residents have been spending the night in covered courts and other evacuation centers set up for them.
San Juan City officials will be forming a special task force that will organize the construction of a medium-rise housing project for the victims of the fire.
Inquirer News reported that work on developing the housing site—the former squatter colony on Marne Street in Barangay St. Joseph—will begin once the area is cleared of debris and other rubbish.
