MANILA, Philippines - The Navotas City government placed Barangay San Roque under a state of calamity to facilitate the release of funds for around 2,500 fire victims, especially the families of the 12 who died in the blaze.
“The main objective is for the immediate facilitation and release of emergency funds urgently needed by the fire victims,” city public information officer Jerry Doringo told The STAR.
Mayor John Rey Tiangco and city fire chief Superintendent Felix Medes inspected the site of the fire and found that access to the area is only through a narrow alley – two people cannot walk side by side – that leads to the main street.
“Many were trapped because the blaze, fanned by strong winds, quickly spread and the residents have only one escape route, which is a narrow alley,” Tiangco said.
Resident Jessie Garcia, 29, said he woke up at around 11 p.m. with their house already blanketed in smoke. He said he ran out with his wife and two children.
“When I returned for my father-in-law (William Agarin, 70), my sister-in-law (Jennifer Agarin, 30) and her two children (Arvy, 1, and Jessie James, 3) the fire already engulfed our house. They were trapped and died inside,” Garcia said as he sobbed.
He said the boys’ father, Wellan Agarin, had gone “to a local bazaar to buy his family new clothes. When he came back, they were all gone.”
Residents of Barangay San Roque were preparing for their village fiesta the next day when the fire, believed started by a mentally ill George Milagroso, 28, broke out, police said.
When firemen put out the blaze at around 4:45 a.m., they found at least 11 charred bodies – the four Agarins; Milagroso; Salonga siblings Joros (12), Natalie (11), and Angela (10); Carlito Blancaflor, 98; Gerald Blancaflor, 10; and Geric Tambor, 13. Remedios Ortellana, 62, suffered a heart attack and died at the height of the fire.