ANGELES CITY, Philippines – The ancestral home of former Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Nicanor Bartolome and two other houses in Gerona, Tarlac were razed to the ground at dawn Sunday.
Reports said the fire, which damaged four more houses, started around 2 a.m. on the second floor of the house of Feliciana Anchete, Bartolome’s maternal grandmother.
“That’s our ancestral home and it’s one of the oldest standing (house) here,†said municipal Councilor Eufrocino Bartolome Jr., brother of the former PNP chief.
Eufrocino said the fire could have been sparked by electrical wirings, which he said were very old. He said the house, which was made of wood, was more than 100 years old.
Firefighters from the Gerona fire station and Tarlac City Filipino Chinese Fire Brigade put out the fire at about 3:30 a.m.
No one was reported injured or killed in the incident as authorities have yet to determine the amount of damage.