83-year-old mansion in Negros goes up in smoke

The 83-year-old Gustilo mansion being eaten up by flames on Tuesday. PHOTO BY KHAI ARATES

BACOLOD CITY—An 83-year-old mansion in Cadiz City, Negros Occidental went up in smoke on Tuesday, Sept. 17.

Senior Insp. Arden Bedona, Cadiz fire chief, said an investigation is being conducted on the cause of the fire that destroyed the mansion worth about P2 million.

The once imposing Gustilo ancestral mansion was built atop a hill in 1936 by Dr. Vicente Gustilo Sr.,  governor of Negros Occidental from August 1, 1942 to April 1943.

The Gustilo mansion in its heyday was the venue of many political gatherings of the powerful in Negros.

Listed as the owner of the mansion was Evangeline B. Ramos, a Gustilo descendant, Bedona said./tsb