14-year-old boy, sister killed in Compostela fire

CEBU, Philippines - Two-year-old Maricar Dejesica and her physically handicapped elder brother, 14-year-old Jolito, cried for help as flames ate up their house in the mountain barangay of Cabadiangan, Compostela yesterday morning.

Their neighbors attempted to put out the fire but none of them dared to enter the burning house which was made of light materials.

When the children's mother arrived, running to the thick smoke from where she was fetching water from a well, the bodies of the two children were already charred in what used to be their living room, apparently hugging each other.

The country kicked off the celebration of March as Fire Prevention Month just a few days ago.

Unattended cooking was believed to have caused the fire as the mother, Jocelyn, 38, cooked food at their dirty kitchen that morning. She was not in the house because she fetched water at the well about 15 meters away.

SPO4 Wilfredo Caturza, chief investigator, told The FREEMAN that wind might have fanned the ember from the firewood.

The children were alone in the house because their father, 39-year-old Carlito, was at work in a poultry farm.

From the well, Jocelyn noticed thick smoke coming from the direction of their house, so she ran home.

Caturza said Jolito could not move because of his disability.

Firefighters arrived at the scene but the house was already burned.

“Pag-abot sa bombero, tungod kay bukid kayo ang lugar ugdaw na ang balay unya ang hose dili kaabot,” Caturza said in a phone interview. (The firefighters were too late because the area was far.)

Personnel of the Municipal Social Welfare and Development Office (MSWDO) assisted the grieving couple. — /JPM (FREEMAN)