EVERY week the past month, a large fire was reported somewhere in Metro Manila. “Large,” in this case, means it “destroyed homes numbering in the dozens.” This is not something that should be considered normal.

Last Wednesday morning, a fire ruined about 50 homes in Tondo. Another 50 houses were incinerated and nine people killed in a blaze on December 11 in Damayang Lagi, Quezon City; an enormous fire hit the Quiapo district and destroyed about 500 dwellings on December 4; and on November 25, 800 houses were annihilated in a fire in Addition Hills, Mandaluyong. By our conservative estimate, that means about 7,000 people have been displaced in less than a month due to fires, and the real figure is probably much higher. Again, this is not normal. Anywhere else, it would be considered the calamity that it really is.

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