Couple charged for leaving boy to burn alive

MANILA, Philippines - The Las Piñas police has filed charges against a couple who allegedly chained a seven-year-old boy and left him to die when a fire gutted their house in Fatima Subdivision shortly before dawn Thursday.

Bernardo Acomen and his partner, Analou Satur, were formally charged with homicide in relation to the law penalizing violence against women and their children before the city prosecutor’s office Thursday afternoon, city police chief Senior Superintendent Romulo Sapitula said.

“No bail bond was recommended for the temporary liberty of the accused,” he said.

Sapitula said they are closely coordinating with the Bureau of Fire Protection to upgrade the case to murder if it is proven that the fire was deliberately set.

Investigators initially reported that the fire, which gutted two houses, was caused by faulty wiring.

While the couple denied the allegations that they killed Angelo Malbas, Satur’s son, Sapitula said firefighters recovered the boy’s body with a dog chain still attached to his right leg.

Investigators reported that Acomen chained the boy for being unruly and to prevent the child from leaving the house.

When the fire broke out in the house, the couple allegedly fled with two other children without releasing Malbas.