ILOILO City – Some P200,000 worth of properties were damaged when fire struck nine houses in Barangay Dungon C, Mandurriao district.
Four of the houses were gutted while five were partially damaged, according to the Bureau of Fire Protection.
While they have identified the cost of damage, they were still investigating the cause of the Friday blaze, said Fire Officer 3 Denmark Macoco.
Jonard Juanico, Jolito Juanico, Mitchell Rubite, and Alex Agosto owned the destroyed houses.
The partially damaged houses were owned by Rhea Gallantes, Edgar Agbas, Genjie Gado, Rency Salibio, and Regie Salibio.
Initial investigation showed the blaze started from the house of Jonard Juanico at around 5 p.m., Macoco said.
According to the BFP, Jonard Juanico was not around when the fire broke and was surprised to see his house completely burned.
Prior to leaving the house, he saw a carpenter welding iron grills near their house. The activity may have had something to do with the blaze, the BFP said.
The victims were temporarily staying in the houses of their relatives./PN
