A fire destroyed eight homes in Delas Alas Street, Barangay 57, Pasay City.
Remedios Abing was selling coconuts when her child rushed to tell her that flames were engulfing their home. The fire reportedly began around 10:30 a.m.
By the time Remedios returned, the fire had grown too large, and she couldn’t save anything from their house.
What broke her heart the most was the 200,000 pesos she had saved to buy a piece of land in Bulacan the next day. The money was reduced to ashes.
“Of course, when we grow old, we can’t sell coconuts forever. We wanted a place of our own, a home to return to in our old age,” said Remedios.
Another victim, Jhonie Teofilo, had saved 40,000 pesos for his college child’s tuition, but when he opened the drawer where he had hidden it, all he found were ashes.
“That money was for my child’s tuition, for school expenses. I was hoping it might have survived the fire, but no—it was completely burned,” Jhonie said.
Though Remedios and Jhonie escaped with nothing but the clothes on their backs, they remain determined to rise again from this tragedy.
Sadly, three pet dogs did not survive the blaze.
The fire was declared out shortly after 12 noon, more than two hours after it began.
According to the Pasay City Bureau of Fire Protection, the fire started on the second floor of one of the houses when an extension cord plugged in by a child for an electric fan caught fire.
A total of 15 families lost their homes.
The estimated damage is around P450,000.