Man burns house as wife refuses to return home

TUGUEGARAO CITY, Philippines  – Enraged that his wife refused to return home, a farmer in Abulug, Cagayan burned their house, police said yesterday.

Police said farmer Federico Baro Sr. failed to convince his wife to return to their house after a drinking bout with his father-in-law. The couple had a quarrel and the wife has been staying with her parents who live next to them.

Upon his arrest, Baro admitted setting their bed on fire using dried anahaw leaves, and the flames quickly engulfed their house in remote Sitio Lanan in Barangay Gaddam, Abulug town.

Abulug town is one of the Cagayan towns that have no fire truck. A fire truck from nearby Ballesteros town responded but the Baros’ house was already gutted.