By URIEL C. QUILINGUING
Contributing Editor

FIREFIGHTERS found two burnt bodies of children late Wednesday night from what was left after an hour-long fire that gutted down a house in Sitio Panamukan of Barangay San Jose in Malaybalay, Bukidnon.

Senior Insp. Lloyd Villaroya, the city fire marshal, said the remains were that of Marcelino sisters, Angel Grace, 5, and Divine Grace, 7, who were already asleep when the fire broke out about 9 pm.

Villaroya said their parents, Wilgie Sr. and Rodelyn left the two fatalities with their older brother Wilgie Jr. in the house since they had to pay respect in a wake nearby.

“Among them, only the 10-year old Wilgie Jr. was the only one who made it out of the house,” said the city fire marshal, and it was he who asked help from neighbors and raced to relay the horrible news to their parents.

A neighbor reportedly tried to save the Marcelino sisters but failed since the entire house was already on fire. 

Villaroya said the city fire station got the call for assistance at 9:05 pm from a certain one councilor Satur of Barangay San Jose, their firetruck was on the road in a minute, and was at the fire scene about 40 minutes later.

Sitio Panamukan is about 10 kilometers from the national (Sayre) highway and the road to it was rough, narrow and dimly lit. The same dirt road leads to barangay Mabuhay.

“Pag-abot sa firetruck namo, naa pa ang kalayo pero nalusno na (ang balay) kay made of very dry and light materials (Fire was still there when the firetruck arrived but the house has already collapsed),” said the city fire chief.  

The charred bodies were brought to Bukidnon Provincial Medical Hospital for proper handling and disposition

Villaroya said the family’s source of lighting was a lampara (a gas lamp) that was placed near the window’s curtain, hence the fire must have originated from it.

Structural damage was placed estimate at P9,000.

While the Marcelino couple is in grief, the city fire marshal issued on Friday a certification that the family lost all their belongings, aside from their two daughters, and that they badly need assistance.

“They also need our prayers,” the city fire marshal said.