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| Hong Kong's deadliest fire in 7 decades killed at least 159 people |
Filipino migrant workers who were among those who survived
the tragic fire in Tai Po that killed 159 people have received a cash bonanza,
mainly from the Philippine government, of at least Php70,000.
Of this, Php50,000 came from the Aksyon Fund
(Agarang Kalinga at Saklolo para sa mga OFW na Nangangailangan), a program by
the Department of Migrant Workers that provide crucial legal, medical, financial
and repatriation aid to distressed overseas Filipino workers.
The remaining Php20,000 was handed out to them last
Sunday, December 6, at the OFW Global Centre by Rep. Bryan Revilla, who heads
the House of Representatives’ Committee on Migrant Workers.
Separately, the Hong Kong government has pledged to give HK$20,000 financial assistance to each foreign domestic worker affected by the fire in Wang Fuk estate, apart from $2,000 in Octopus card credit which they can use for transportation and emergency expenses.
Those injured will get HK$100,000 if they are hospitalized for at least a week, and HK$50,000 if they are confined for up to six days. Families of those who died are assured of getting a total financial assistance package of about HK$800,000.
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Survivors of the tragedy have been receiving material and psycho-social counselling
from NGOs like the Mission for Migrant Workers and Bethune House shelter |
The affected but not injured Filipino workers who number about 30,
have also been receiving a lot of donations in kind, mainly from non-government
organizations like the Mission for Migrant Workers and the Bethune House
Migrant Women’s Refuge.
Last Sunday, they again received care packs from the
Overseas Workers Welfare Administration, then later at the Mission, where they
were also provided medical and psycho-social counseling by the Hong Kong Red
Cross and volunteer social workers.
Bethune House executive director Edwina Antonio
said, “You’d be surprised at the various kinds of pain they complain about as a
result of the fire. Some have stiff back, stiff legs – aches that they did not
initially experience as they tried to escape the fire.”
But more than the physical pain it is the trauma
that the workers are having difficulty coping with, she said.
“One told me of her recurring nightmare of being
trapped in the fire,” said Antonio. “This is true for most of them. You can just
imagine the fear they had to endure which they are now just beginning to
process.”
From the lengthy talks they have had with the
victims since they set up a help desk right at Wang Fuk Court the day after the
Hong Kong’s deadliest fire in 70 years broke out, Antonio said it was clear how
traumatized the migrant workers were.
“Many spoke of how shocked they were on seeing their
buildings ablaze since they never saw this from inside their flats. All their windows
had been boarded up because of the repair work that had been going on in the
estate for months.”
No fire alarms sounded despite the rapidly spreading
fire, and many were alerted to the raging flames outside only by their
employers who were mostly at work, and had called them on the phone to tell
them to evacuate immediately.
Many are still in deep shock imagining what could
have been. A number of those who were given counseling at the Mission said they
managed to get onto the lifts with their elderly employers and young wards,
just before they stopped running.
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| Mercy and Annabelle recall moments after they were told to leave their Wang Fuk flats |
“Nakasakay
kami ng lola sa last trip ng lift, (My popo and I were in the lift’s last
trip down),” recalled Mercy Martinez, who said she did not immediately realize the big
danger they were facing until they got to the ground floor.
After being led to safety, she saw fiery debris slamming
onto the building they had just left, sparking the inferno that consumed the
structure within only a few minutes.
She still shudders at the thought of what could have
happened to them had they been unable to take the lift down from their
upper-floor flat.
“Hindi ko
kakayaning buhatin si popo pababa. (I would not have been able to carry
popo down the stairs).
Adding to the pain was the seeming lack of sympathy
or understanding of what they had to endure, from people close to them.
Mercy rued that her teenage son never once asked how
she was feeling after her close brush with death, and learning of how a number
of her friends had perished in the tragedy, including a sweet Indonesian migrant
worker who lived in a nearby building.
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| Edwina Antonio (leftmost) with volunteers at the MFMW Help Desk in Tai Po |
Antonio also shared the story of another Filipina
who was left in tears when the elderly woman she was looking after showed far
more concern toward the turtle and cat they had left behind in their flat than she
did for her.
Meanwhile, another OFW victim, Annabelle, still lives in a government-provided shelter, sharing a tiny room with her employer's three family members, including a child who is on the autism spectrum.
She was in a way spared of some of the trauma because she was in the market when the fire struck, while her disabled ward was in school and his elderly grandmother was out on an errand. Her employer called her and told her not to go back to their flat as it was burning.
Still, the terror of that day continues to haunt her. "Hindi na siguro ako titira ulit doon kung sakali" (I don't think I'd ever want to live there again), she said with a shudder.
The emotional scars caused by the tragedy would take
a long time to heal, said Antonio. For this reason, the Mission and Bethune
House plan to continue providing them with all the support they need until they
recover.
This Sunday, the Mission will hold its periodic Care
to Caregivers program at the St John’s Cathedral grounds, while a second round
of session with the Red Cross will be held on Dec. 21, exclusively for the fire
victims.
