Man accused of starting the fire clears his name

A man who lived in the house where the fire started Monday dawn in barangay Basak-Pardo has voluntarily visited the Cebu City Fire Department yesterday to clear his name.

Elmer Margallo visited the city fire department expressing fears for his life after residents of sitios Villa San Pedro I, II, Katangkungan and Ubos Pundok in barangay Basak-Pardo were reportedly mad at him after witnesses pointed to him as the one who caused the fire.

Although Margallo admitted that the fire started in their house he said it was his eight-year-old daughter who forgot to put off the candle after washing the dishes past midnight.

He said that his daughter just left the candle still lighted when she went to her aunt's house nearby to sleep.

Margallo said it was only him, his stepson Sherwin and a cousin, who would sleep in their house since their electricity supply was cut off after they failed to pay their electric bills months ago.

He said at 2:48 a.m. last Monday, his stepson woke him up and told him the living room was on fire. By the time they got there it was already to big to escape and they fled by jumping out from the terrace.

Margallo said it was not true that he did not mind that his house was already on fire when witnesses called his attention, adding that he was already panicking by then.

He said that when he saw his five children in a vacant lot in sitio Katangkungan, his two-month-old son did not stop crying, prompting him and his common-law wife Lenny Ballejo to bring the child to their stall in Carbon Market for safety.

He said that they decided to go back to the fire scene but they received a call from their 12-year-old daughter wanting them to fetch her and her siblings because the residents of the area were mad at him over the fire.

Fearing that something might happen to him, Margallo sought the help of a cousin to fetch his children.

Margallo said that upon learning that he was blamed for the fire, he decided to visit the city fire department for clear his name.

A witness said the couple quarreled before the fire and that one of them even threatened to burn the house. When the fire was detected at the rooftop of their house, the witness alleged that the couple just left the place as if nothing had happened.

Margallo also denied the allegation of another witness that a pot session was held inside his house when the fire broke out.

"Maluoy na lang g'yud ka sa nawong aning tawhana, wa na mahimutang nga siya maoy napasanginlan, kanunay magbalik-balik dire sa opisina. Apan wa man g'yud to mipakita and duha ka witness, aron maklaro ang tanan," City fire investigator Allan Arciaga said.

Arciaga urged the two witnesses to come to their office so they can complete their investigation because the public might accuse them of not working on the case.

Arciaga also clarified that they cannot arrest Margallo because no one saw him actually start the fire. - Flor Z. Perolina