ABLAZE The Seminario de Jesus Nazareno building in Barangay Campesao, Borongan City, is on fire on Sunday. The blaze was reported to have originated from the chapel on the second level of the structure. —photo courtesy of Russil Cebricus
TACLOBAN CITY, LEYTE, Philippines — The start of classes in a seminary in Borongan City, the provincial capital of Eastern Samar, was postponed after it was badly damaged by a fire on Sunday.
“We decided to delay the start of our classes because of the fire. We will ask the Department of Education for their approval on this,” Fr. Juderick Paul Calumpiano, rector of the Seminario de Jesus Nazareno, said on Monday.
The new date for the opening of classes in the seminary has yet to be announced.
READ: Over 1,000 schools rescheduling start of classes – DepEd
The seminary, which has been operating since 1965, was to start classes for the school year 2024 to 2025 on Monday, along with other educational institutions in the country.
Unattended lit incense
Calumpiano said the fire originated in the seminary’s second floor where a chapel was located. The fire also affected the nearby social hall.
The blaze was believed to have been caused by an unattended lit incense.
No one was injured in the incident but the damage to the property was pegged by fire investigators at P2 million.
The seminary, located in Barangay Campesao, has 108 in-house students.
“All were safe and accounted for,” said Calumpiano in a video message posted on the social media account of the Diocese of Borongan.
The fire began around 1:15 p.m. and was put out by the city’s fire department at 2 p.m.
Heartbroken
Fr. Edmel Raagas, who studied at the Seminario de Jesus Nazareno, said he was heartbroken when he saw the structure being gutted by the fire.
“Heartbreaking to see the seminary chapel, where we lovingly encountered God during our boyhood years, being consumed by the flames,” he said in his post on social media.
“The tragedy may have taken the physical structure, but it cannot extinguish the seminary’s legacy to us who were trained within its halls,” Raagas added.
Bishop Crispin Varquez of the Diocese of Borongan has yet to issue a statement about the incident. —Joey Gabieta