Fire hits University of Northern Philippines

VIGAN CITY, Philippines – A pre-dawn fire razed the administration building of the University of Northern Philippines (UNP) here yesterday, destroying valuable documents, including the academic records of students.

The fire struck at around 1 a.m., rousing from sleep the residents of Barangay Tamag where the sprawling university is located.

Dr. Lauro Tacbas, UNP president, allayed the fears of parents on the destroyed student records, saying that although record keeping was centralized, the various colleges of the university have their individual files stored in their respective data systems.

Investigators suspect that the fire could have started at the back of the administration building due to faulty electrical wiring.  

Tacbas, who was in Lucena, Quezon for a conference as chairman of the Philippine Association of State Universities and Colleges, said financial records lost in the fire were the ones that would be difficult to reconstruct.

“Both the accounting and auditing departments were burned down,” he said.