No bail for man who burned sister's house

CEBU, Philippines - The Cebu City Prosecutor’s Office has recommended no bail for a man who was accused of setting fire to the house of his sister along M. Velez St., Barangay Capitol Site, Cebu City.

Prosecutor Ernesto Narido Jr. elevated the criminal case of arson against Juanito “Boyet” Potot Jr. to court after the latter chose not to file a counter-affidavit.

“The forgoing information is filed pursuant to Section 7, Rule 112 of the Revised Rules on Criminal Procedure, as amended, the accused not having opted to avail of his right to preliminary investigation and not having executed a waiver,” the certification read.

Narido said based on the evidence, the damage caused amounted to P800,000.

On Aug. 19, 2012 at about 5:20 p.m., Joan Zamora, a caretaker of Perlita Abrogena alleged that she saw fire coming from the room of the accused.

Reportedly, the accused used plastic materials and a disposable lighter to intentionally set the fire, Zamora said.

Abrogena is the sister of the accused.

She said prior to the incident she went to a bakeshop to buy some bread.

“I proceed to bakeshop to buy bread and when I came back to the house, I saw the room occupied by Boyet already on fire and I saw him run away ahead with other technicians outside the house passing through the laboratory then to the dental clinic,” her affidavit read.

Zamora added it was not the first times that accused did it, as he previously tried to burn the house but was stopped.

Abrogena told the police to arrest her brother.

“That to my mind, I believe the cause of the fire incident was intentionally set by my brother. My brother was previously detained at the rehabilitation center located in Argao, Cebu. He was released sometime in January 2010. Since then, he oftentimes will get wild and cause alarm in our locality,” her affidavit read.    - THE FREEMAN