Cebu resident identified in Bacolod pension house fire that killed 6 persons

BACOLOD CITY –– A Cebu resident was the last one to be identified of the six fatalities in a fire that hit a pension house on Gonzaga and Locsin Streets in Bacolod City last Tuesday.

Chief Inspector Publio Ploteña, Bacolod City fire marshal, identified the fatality as Arnel Bajenting.

Bajenting, 42, a native of Argao town, Cebu, but lived in LG Southville in Bulacao, Cebu City, was found dead in the hallway of the Java Pension House.

His wife Evelyn said Bajenting may have died from suffocation.

Evelyn was at the Abe Funeral Homes in Bacolod City on Thursday to claim the body of Bajenting.

Bajenting, a freelance hardware supply agent, arrived in Bacolod City last Monday, and may have been too exhausted, Evelyn said.

The couple has four children aged 4, 6, 15, and 17 years old.

“I last spoke to my husband last Monday evening and everything was fine,” Evelyn said.

The other fatalities, who were earlier identified, were Christopher Java, whose family owned the pension house; his 12-year-old son Christian Miguel, his mother Magdalena Java, the boy’s nanny Ronalyn Dacilio, and Arnold Felomino, who was assigned at the front desk.

The fire reportedly started from the motorcycles parked on the ground floor of the pension house.

Investigators, however, had yet to determine whether there was arson in the incident.

The damage was pegged at P5 million.

Edited by LZB