A mother, her daughter and their housemaid were killed after a fire hit a house in a private subdivision in Parañaque City early Thursday.
But Insp. Wilson Tana, chief arson investigator, said it was possible that Charina Luyas, reportedly between 40 and 50 years old; her 16-year-old daughter, Charline; and their maid Josephine Amante, were killed even before the fire that started at 12:50 a.m. engulfed the concrete house on Thomas St., Multinational Village in Barangay Moonwalk where only the three of them lived.
READ: Bodies of 3 women in burned house in Parañaque raises questions
The one-story house, according to Tana, was owned by Dorothy Manzano, the aunt of Charina.
Tana said Manzano, an accountant, had told police she employed her niece in her accountancy business based in Makati.
“It can be a coverup, that they were killed before the house was set on fire,” Tana said, noting that the Luyas had “very visible” lacerations in the forehead when found on the floor of Amante’s room by responding firemen who had put out the fire by 2:26 a.m.
Amante, he said, was found on a wooden bed, in the same room, her body “charred beyond recognition.”
“There was blood behind the head of the mother (Charina), and the daughter appeared to have been dragged from the living room based on the trajectory of the blood stain,” Tana said.
He said there was also blood found near the entrance to the room of Amante, where an empty gun shell was also found.
Tana said the shell—now in the custody of the police—came from a .45 cal. pistol.
Tana said no weapon was found inside the house, which did not appear to be in disarray.
Tana said the theory that the three were killed before the house was set on fire was boosted by a claim from a neighbor who lived beside the house. Marie Anne Valenciano told police she heard the sound of gunfire between 12 and 1 a.m.
“After that sound, she said there were cries of ‘Fire, fire!’ She went outside her house, saw there was a fire, and shouted for the people inside (Manzano’s) house to get out,” Tana said.
Valenciano, however, did not see anyone going outside Manzano’s house while the fire was raging, Tana said.
Arson investigators, on the other hand, came to the conclusion the house was deliberately set on fire after firefighters found that the fire—which reached the first alarm—had started in two places: Amante’s room and the Luyas’ room.
Tana said it was still unclear what was used to set the house on fire.
“But the room of the Luyas and the living room were totally destroyed. The room of Amante was partially destroyed,” Tana said.
Senior Supt. Ariel Andrade, the city’s chief of police, said the police would lead the fire and death investigation “in coordination” with the Bureau of Fire Protection.
“We can’t determine anything yet. The incident is still under investigation,” Andrade said, noting that all angles were still being considered.
Tana said that based on interviews with residents in the area, which was dimly lit because there were “many” vacant lots, the Luyas and Amante were “good people (maaayos na tao).”
Manzano told investigators Charina had “long been separated” from Charline’s father, Israel.
Charline, on the other hand, was an incoming first year college student at the University of Santo Tomas, Tana said.
All bodies are now at Rizal Funeral Homes.
Damage to property was estimated by the BFP at P100,000. SM