Reynaldo Abayon was arrested at around 7:15 p.m. last Friday along Ilang-Ilang Street, Paramount Village, Las Piñas, said Senior Fire Officer (SFO)4 Regalado Manahan, chief of the Arson Investigation and Intelligence Unit. He was said to have sought refuge at a cousin’s house in Moonwalk, Parañaque immediately after the incident.
Abayon’s neighbors, Lourdes Chokilo, 65, her sister Zenaida Velos, 50, and their niece Aiza de los Angeles, 13, were killed in the blaze. At least seven one-room apartments located on Champaca Street, also in Paramount Village were razed to the ground.
A neighbor told investigators that he saw Abayon standing in front of an LPG gas tank, holding an unlighted cigarette and a box of match, hours after the suspect and his wife Arlene had a heated argument. The neighbor said he smelled gas and immediately took away the LPG tank fearing that Abayon might set it on fire. Hours later, the apartments in the compound were ablaze.
While Abayon told state prosecutor Mario Mangrobang that "he did not know people would be killed," he admitted that he was drunk that night. However, Abayon denied before authorities that he started the fire, Manahan said.
Relatives of the victims have filed a formal complaint against Abayon, who is facing charges of arson resulting in multiple homicide. He is now detained in the city jail. – Nikko Dizon