CAMILING, Tarlac, Philippines – A call from California in the dead of night gave the parents of Neriza Fojas the first ominous sign of impending misfortune.
The caller asked for the number of Neriza’s husband, Karlo Moya, according to her father Carlito, 64.
Fearing that some misfortune had befallen their daughter, who worked as a nurse in Fresno, California, Carlito and his wife Sonia rang up an elder daughter, who did not have the heart to give them the sad news.
But another relative also living in the US informed them that Neriza had died in an accident when the limousine she was riding in burst into flames on a Bay Area bridge last Saturday night.
Earlier, Neriza’s best friend Nelia Hilario had told Carlito that they were giving Neriza a surprise bridal shower in a hotel.
Hilario narrated that while Neriza and eight other friends were inside the rented limousine, the carpeted flooring at the rear of the stretch vehicle where Neriza and four other girls were seated caught fire.
Hilario said she was the first to get out of the car. She managed to pull out three women before the vehicle was engulfed by flames.
She apologized to Neriza’s parents for failing to save their daughter.
Neriza, 31, was a native of Camiling, where she was crowned first runner-up in the town beauty pageant in 2000 and 2006. She later emigrated to the US and became a citizen in 2011.
Sonia, 62, said Neriza was the family provider. Almost every day, Neriza had gotten in touch with her relatives by Skype or Magic Box. In their last conversation, she had shown Carlito t-shirts she had bought for him.
Neriza was supposed to return to the Philippines on June 1 to finalize preparations for her church wedding on June 19 in Batangas. She and Karlo, a native of Daraga, Albay who worked as a physical therapist in Fresno, were wed in civil rites recently in Las Vegas.
The couple had met at a TOFEL review center in Manila.