A RETIRED school teacher perished on May 16 dawn’s conflagration that gutted down one of the oldest houses in Cagayan de Oro City.
The 68-year-old Antonio Galpo, a retired public teacher of the City Central School, was apparently trapped on the third floor of the four-storey building, while his wife was taken to a hospital from burn injuries when the fire broke out at around 3 am at their place along Tiano- Kalambaguhan streets in front of the Inilog Grill (Bars and Clubs) Restaurant.
“Diabetic bed-ridden na ang biktima (Galpo) wala siya nadali-dali og alsa kay bug-at unya nagkadako na ang kalayo,” explained Barangay 14 chairman Francisco Laihee in a radio interview.
Laihee said the old residential structures mostly made up of light wooden materials were once the abode of the late Boholano Cecilio Luminarias, a former vice Mayor of Cagayan de Oro.
It housed at least nine families including the children of the late politician who was among the city’s oldest batch of migrants from Bohol.
After Galpo’s remains were recovered by the firefighters from the upstairs ruins of the iconic building, Laihee said he immediately negotiated with the management of the nearby Demiren hotel to accommodate the fire victims from the Luminarias compound.
“Atong napahimutang nga maplastar ug mapakaon sila kay completely damaged gyod ilang pinuy-anan, adunay nakalas nga kinabuhi, ang kapikas tua pa sa ospital dili lalim ilang kahimtang,” Laihee said.
Authorities are still probing the cause and origin of the dawn fire that also destroyed one of the adjoining building structures.
