Mayor sees arson in fire near pilgrimage site

DAGUPAN CITY—A mayor of the town where 100 hectares of forest were destroyed by a 16-hour fire on Black Saturday is seeing a case of arson in the fire, offering a cash reward for information that would lead to the arrest of the perpetrators.

Mayor Rodrigo Rafael of Natividad town said the fire started in a residential compound, unlike previous forest fires that started deep in the forest.

“This is the first time that a fire started below the mountains,” said Rafael.

The fire began at 4 p.m. in the compound of a resident of Barangay (village) Batchelor East, about 500 meters from Natividad town’s Sky Plaza and pilgrimage site, Rafael said. It raged through the night and destroyed at least 100 ha of forest planted with fruit-bearing trees, pine, narra, mahogany and other tree species.

The fire was put off at 8 a.m. on Easter Sunday.

Structures at the Sky Plaza and the 12.9-meter tall statue of Christ the Redeemer built on a mountaintop were not damaged.

In the past, workers burned grassy patches in the mountains to allow fresh grass to grow and attract wild animals, such as deer and wild boar, Rafael said. “We now have black mountains. I hope some of the trees there will be able to recover,” he said.

The mayor offered a P25,000 reward for information that would lead police to those responsible for the fire. Investigators are in search of witnesses. Gabriel Cardinoza, Inquirer Northern Luzon