Fire hits Muntinlupa city hall

Fire razed the Muntinlupa city hall building and several nearby houses at noon yesterday.

Arson investigator Fire Officer 2 Marlon Santos said the blaze affected nine houses behind the city hall building. The houses, located along Henares street in Barangay Putatan, were made of light materials and were immediately engulfed in flames that spread to the government building.

City hall employees, carrying personal belongings and other documents, were seen running out of the building as the fire continued to spread.

Muntinlupa Mayor Aldrin San Pedro said faulty electrical wiring from one of the gutted houses caused the fire. Offices on the second floor of the building were totally burned while the first floor was partially destroyed.

“We might hold office temporarily at the Annex Building and the People’s Center, which is also located within the compound,” he said.

Apart from the several firetrucks that rushed to the scene, employees helped put out the fire with water rations.

Southern Police District Fire Marshall Superintendent Sofia Mendoza said the fire originated from an electrical post near one of the burned houses. She added that only the Assessor’s Office and the Treasury Office on the city hall building’s second floor were saved by the firefighters. 

She also said there were at least five persons injured in the incident: Cristita Fernandez, 78; Lourdes Fernandez, 43; Serjanino Fernandez, 21, and a certain Inspector Casison from the Las Piñas police station. However, a fireman who sustained injuries was not yet identified.   

The fire, which reached general alarm, was contained at  around 3:33 p.m.

San Pedro expressed suspicion that the fire could be linked to the recent ambush attempt on City Administrator Roberto Bunyi.

“I just can’t help but think that there is a connection. The attempt on... Bunyi’s life was just very recent and now, the city hall has been burned,” he said.

San Pedro said though no additional security personnel were detailed at the city hall after Bunyi was attacked by three unidentified motorcycle-riding gunmen, he deemed it best to have the city placed under heightened alert so all the areas will be covered.

Bunyi, a nephew of Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye, sustained a gunshot wound in the back after the suspects peppered his car, a white Toyota Revo, with bullets along Bruger Street in Barangay Putatan on the night of July 24.  He survived the attack.