Elderly woman dies in fire at own home

She didn’t want to have electricity in her home, claiming that she prefers a kerosene lamp which she can use to light up her tobacco than the bright white light of a flourescent bulb.

Maria Bihag-Pino also didn’t want anyone reminding her about her drinking habit, least of all her son Lomer whom she ordered to buy a bottle of rhum that she and her neighbor consumed late Tuesday evening.

It was these two habits that Lomer believed led to the fire that burned her alive and gutted her home in Purok 3, Cubacub, Mandaue City at past 12:45 a.m Wednesday.

SF01 Cipriano Codilla Jr. of the Mandaue City Fire Department said Pino’s son Lumer told them that the fire spread through his mother’s home by the time he and his family woke up.

Lomer’s family lives beside her. “He didn’t hear anything, not even a shout from his mother so he believed that she slept off her drunkenness,” Codilla said.

Pino’s charred remains was on the floor of her dirty kitchen.

Lumer and his relatives thought that she crawled going outside and wanted to escape from her burning house.

The victim lived alone in her house after her husband died a few years ago.

“Gusto jud nako lowason akong mama pero dili ko kasulod kay dako kaayo ang kayo (I wanted to rescue my mother but I can’t enter her home since the fire got too big),” Lomer said.

Codilla said Lomer told them that his mother previously sustained burns after her kerosene lamp fell on her while she slept.

He said his mother always placed her lamp beside her while sleeping.

Lomer said she usually drinks every night and his children didn’t want to stay with her because of her drunken behavior.

Lomer said his mother had just cut grass from a relative’s home and bought a bottle of rhum to drink with her neighbor.

They finished the bottle and bought another one after his mother complained that she wanted to drink more.

“Si mama nasuko nga usa ra ka baso ang iyang nainom. Mao to nagpapalit siya ug laing par (Mother got angry when she only drank one glass and so she bought another bottle),“ Lomer said.

He said he bought his mother a bottle of rhum and poured it in a pitcher, mixing it with a softdrink before giving it to her.

Lomer said he reminded his mother to place the kerosene lamp on an altar before sleeping on her bamboo bed.

He said if he had known the danger his mother faced, he would have stayed at her home to watch over her.

Lomer said his neighbors all helped in putting out the fire in his mother’s home so it won’t spread to their houses.

Pino’s remains was brought to the St. Jude Funeral Homes.

Lomer said he hoped the Mandaue City government will help them pay for his mother’s burial expenses.

The damage on Pino’s home that was made of light materials was pegged at P10,000.