2 BOYS FOUND DEAD AT HOME IN PARADISE FIRE
WHAT USED TO BE PARADISE. Of the more than 350 families who lost their homes in Sitio Paradise and two other communities in Pajo, Lapu-Lapu City, one family has to bear the worst losses: the death of two boys, a three-year-old and a one-year-old, during Friday night’s fire.
As of yesterday, Pajo Barangay Captain Junard Chan said there were 353 families and 167 renters who were recorded in the list of persons affected by the fire that hit Sitios Paradise, Camansi and Kitchen last Friday
Chan said they already declared Paradise and a portion of Camansi and Kitchen under a state of calamity during an emergency barangay council session
Remains found in the scene were brought to the PNP Crime Laboratory 7 for a DNA test to officially confirm that those were the remains of the two children
The remains of two children who were reported missing during the fire in Barangay Pajo, Lapu-Lapu City last Friday night were found yesterday morning.
Jennifer Cañedo, 28, confirmed that the bones she found in their destroyed house in Sitio Paradise were those of her two children.
Cañedo was digging in the debris at 5 a.m. when she found the remains.
As of yesterday, Pajo Barangay Captain Junard Chan said there were 353 families and 167 renters who were recorded in the list of persons affected by the fire that hit Sitios Paradise, Camansi, and Kitch- en last Friday.
Chan said they already declared Paradise and a portion of Camansi and Kitchen under a state of calamity during an emergency barangay council session a few hours after firefighters declared the fire out.
Cañedo said she was sleeping on the ground floor of their house when the fire started on the second floor at 5 p.m.
Kent Zyril, 1, and Yokohan, 3, were in the second floor at that time when the fire broke out.
Cañedo, who is separated from her husband, has five children. Three are girls ages 9, 6, and 5. Her two children who died were boys.
She said one of her children and her nephew were playing with matches on the second floor, which was believed to have caused the fire.
Cañedo woke up when she heard the children running down the stairs.
She immediately ran upstairs to get Kent and Yokohan, but failed to get inside the room because the flames had already spread.
“Nakadungog ko’g tingog sa akong mga anak nga naghilak... Kon mosud ko masunog kog apil (I heard my children crying, but if I forced my way in, I would get burned),” said Cañedo.
She said her neighbors and relatives also tried to get inside their house to save the children. One of the neighbors collapsed due to the thick smoke.
Cañedo, who is jobless, said they need shelter, clothes, food and water right now.
FO1 Benjie Jilig of the LapuLapu City Fire District (LCFD) said Kent and Yokohan’s remains were brought to the PNP Crime Laboratory 7 for a DNA test to confirm that those were the remains of the two children.
LCFD initially assessed that damage to property reached P550,000.
Yesterday, Chan visited the fire survivors who were staying in makeshift tents in Sitio Camansi.
He assured them that they can rebuild their houses in the same site.
“Pabalikon ta mo sa inyong balay nga natarukan (You will return to your place),” he told them.
According to Chan, the fire site, which has an area of about a hectare, is under litigation and that three claimants have been fighting over it.
Most of the affected families were staying in Pajo Elementary School, Pajo National High School, and the barangay’s covered court.
The principal of the school told Chan that the fire survivors can stay there until today.
However, Chan said he will request the principal to give the fire survivors an extension.
The barangay officials will use a portion of the village’s P700,000 calamity fund to answer the fire survivors’ basic needs.
Once the residents will rebuild their houses, Chan said the LCFD suggested that fire hydrants should be installed in the area.
Mayor Paz Radaza visited the affected individuals last Friday night and the City provided them with meals and water.