Forbes fire raises row

A three-hour fire of suspicious origin destroyed around P2 million worth of property in exclusive Forbes Park in Makati City yesterday.

"From the way our arson probers saw it, the fire could have been set off intentionally," said Superintendent Artemio Tabajonda, the Makati fire bureau chief.

He said a man said to be an outsider was caught by a Forbes Park guard throwing bottles that exploded inside the garage of the partially gutted house at 3 Ipil Road, South Forbes Park.

An irate lady resident of the house, however, denounced the Makati City Fire Department for their late response and for reportedly demanding a bribe to put out the fire.

"Had they arrived earlier, the damage could have been minimal," said the lady, who refused to be identified.

She said that a Makati fireman approached her and told her that their firetruck was returning as it had run out of water but it had no gasoline.

"The action was a plain and simple demand for money!" she claimed.

She also claimed that she lost several pieces of jewelry during the confusion after the arrival of the Makati firemen.

Tabajonda, however, dismissed the allegations, saying they could just be a ploy to stop them from conducting an investigation on the cause of the fire. --