Nanny admits starting Banilad blaze; another nanny dies

CEBU, Philippines - In an attempt to cover her tracks, a woman tried to dispose of her contract by burning the document, but this started a fire that killed her fellow nanny yesterday.

The house, located at the Holy Family Village in Barangay Banilad, was owned by retired Air Force Colonel Mariano Parcon Sr. The incident happened around 2 am.

The FREEMAN is withholding the name of the suspect pending the filing of charges against her today. She started working for Parcon only last Monday. 

Sr. Insp. Jul Mohamad Jamri, chief of the city police homicide section, said the suspect admitted having stolen items from her employer and admitted further that she tried to cover her tracks by burning her employment contract. However, the fire went big and spread throughout the house.  

Another nanny, an old woman identified later as Cornila Tagalog, was burned beyond recognition. She was sleeping in a room at the second floor. The fire, which lasted for approximately five minutes, burned down Parcon’s house and partially damaged another house owned by one Erwin Toriflores.

The fire department pegged structural damage at around P50,000.    

The suspect was arrested 15 hours after the incident at a relative’s house in Minglanilla town. It was reportedly the suspect’s husband who disclosed his wife’s whereabouts when police went to their house in Barangay Dumlog, Talisay City.

Jamri said the suspect tried to flee but failed to do so after police surrounded her. She is facing charges for robbery with arson resulting to homicide.

Fire fighters initially thought that the suspect was included in the fire until Eduardo Omandac, a veterinary worker, saw her a few hours after the blaze.

Omandac told The FREEMAN that he saw the woman carrying two bags and seemingly disoriented around 4:30 am a few meters from the burned house. One of the bags was reportedly stolen.  

“She (suspect) wanted to go to her mother who lives at a nearby sitio, but I did allow her after she acted oddly. She looked as if she was hiding from someone,” Omandac said.

Still, the suspect escaped by climbing over a wall in the village, leaving behind her blue bag.

It was the village security guard, Renato Loterago, 30, who first saw the flames from Parcon’s house.

Loterago, who have worked at the village for the past 10 years, said he was on his way back to his post when he saw thick smoke from the Parcon compound. He reportedly saw flames coming from the back portion of the house, prompting him to climb over the gate and warn those inside that the house was on fire.

However, when he saw two of Parcon’s errand boys panicking inside the house, he charged inside the house through the main door and helped bring out 15 people.

Parcon Jr., together with his wife and three other kids, escaped the blaze through a fire exit through the roof. He was reportedly awakened by the intense heat coming from the ground floor. When he checked, he was met with thick smoke and fire prompting him to wake his wife and three children up.

“I tried to call for Tagalog on the other side of the room, but there was no response so I just left with my family and escaped the blaze,” he said. —/JMO (FREEMAN)