ZAMBOANGA CITY, 13 August 2004 — More than 1,000 houses in Palawan province went up in smokes yesterday when a man tired of his illness set himself on fire, officials and radio reports said.
A woman was killed along with the paralytic man, who reportedly doused himself with gasoline in a suicide bid that affected two seaside communities, arson investigators reported.
Mayor Edward Hagedorn of Puerto Princesa City, the capital of Palawan, said 7 others wounded in the fire that broke out in the villages of Siblin 1 and 2, which used to be a seaplane base of the United States Navy.
“Two people were killed and we have reports that a man who doused himself with gasoline and committed suicide was the culprit. The villages were totally burned to the ground. An investigation is underway,” he said.
Police Chief Superintendent Alejandro Lapinid identified the man as Dominador Sedaya, 54 years old.
Lapinid said rescuers recovered the charred remains of Sedaya from the fiery rubble.
“He (Sedaya) must have been desperate because of his condition after failing to recover from a stroke that paralyzed half of his body from the waist down,” Lapinid said. “He apparently lost hope and somehow lost his sanity.”
Other reports said as many as 3,000 houses were razed by the fire, but Hagedorn brought the number down to only “more than a thousand.”
Strong winds helped fan the fire that spread into alleys and that thousands of people were left homeless, officials said.
Soldiers, police officers and civilian volunteers helped evacuate affected residents into safer areas. Most of them were brought to the local sports coliseum that was converted into temporary shelter.
Local officials were quoted by radio reports as saying residents heard an explosion before seeing flames in one of the houses. Puerto Princesa, about 580 kilometers (363 miles) southwest of Manila, is known for its beaches and as the gateway to eco-tourism spots in Palawan.
