By Ronron
January 29, 2008
The old city hall building of Lamitan in Bailan province was eaten by fire before dawn Monday with no casualties reported, police said yesterday.
Chief Insp. Rolando Democrito, Lamitan City police chief, said in a phone interview that initial investigation point to arson as the probable cause of the incident and not accidental by faulty electrical wiring.
According to a report reaching Camp Crame, the fire started at 1:30 am and was extinguished at around 3am. The old city hall building is located along Rizal Avenue in Barangay Maganda, about a kilometer away from the new city hall building.
Democrito said razed to the ground were the old city hall building and its annex building, both built with light materials.
He said there was a security guard on duty at that time who was posted in front, but he claimed he did not notice any person who went inside the building.
Democrito said the fire reportedly started at the floor area of the Treasurer’s Office of the building, located at the ground floor. This is where ballot boxes in relation to pending electoral protests over the barangay polls last year are being stored.
Aside from the Treasurer’s Office, the old city hall building also houses the Municipal Circuit Trial Court , while the annex building houses an office of the Department of Social Welfare and Development and the Local Civil Registrar’s Office, among others, said Democrito.
The estimated cost of damages is pegged at P4.86 million, Democrito said.
“Based on the findings of arson investigators from the Bureau of Fire Protection, the probable cause is arson because it started on the ground of the Treasurer’s Office where, incidentally, ballot boxes used in the last barangay elections are stored,” Democrito said.
“If it was electrical wiring, the fire should have started on the ceiling,” he added.
Democrito said investigation is still ongoing to determine the suspects in the incident and ascertain the real motive./DMS
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