P.5M lost as fire hits old building

An old residential building was damaged in an early-morning fire in San Andres Bukid, Manila, Sunday.

Actress Sharon Cuneta might remember the 70-year-old apartment-type structure as one of its rooms served as her house in the 2003 film “Crying Ladies.” One can clearly see the old house in the scene where Cuneta was standing outside her room while an Indian vendor offered her a karaoke machine.

In another scene, Hilda Koronel, who played the megastar’s friend “Aling Doray,” could be seen operating a “sari-sari” or retail store in the same building.

Occupants of the two-story structure at 1531 Rubi St. corner Zobel Roxas Avenue, told investigators that they noticed smoke coming out from the rented unit of Cely del Mundo on the ground floor.

In an interview with the Philippine Daily Inquirer, Manila Fire District operation chief Bonifacio Carta  said that the occupant and her two grandchildren were out of the house when the fire started at 6:18 a.m. They arrived to find their room already in flames.

“Nobody even told me that my house was burning,” Del Mundo said as a Red Cross team gave her oxygen to help her breathe.

She claimed she managed to save just a few of her clothes and that she failed to get her money.

Neighbors suspected that she may have left an electric stove open when she went out to hear Mass with her grandchildren.

Carta said no one was hurt in the hour-long fire, which reached the fourth alarm and burned down 10 residential units. The owner, according to a police investigation, was based in the United States and only a caretaker was looking after the building which covers an entire block.

“It was made of light construction materials so the fire easily spread to the entire building,” Carta added.

The operation chief estimated the damage to property at around P500,000.

Barangay (village) Chair Carlos Samaniego told the Inquirer that the 18 families displaced by the fire were evacuated to the nearby Rafael Palma Elementary School.

“DSWD workers are giving the families free congee today and have also provided them with relief goods,” he said.

Samaniego also told the Inquirer he was thankful that patrolling barangay watchmen responded immediately to the fire.

“If not for them, this building would have burned to the ground,” he said.