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Thursday, April 21, 2005
Arson suspect arrested in Carcar
By Lovely Lady Villanueva
Sun.Star Correspondent
The suspect in the fire that razed at least 200 houses in Alaska, Mambaling in Cebu City was arrested by officers of the Carcar Police Station after trying to kill himself.
Gregorio Unabia, 76, was caught in his cousin’s house, where he fled and hid after being accused of starting the fire last Tuesday morning.
Unabia said the accusation that he burned his house was false. He also denied that he tried to kill his neighbor and a three-year-old child.
He recalled that after talking with his wife, Sabel, he went to the bathroom and, when he came out a few minutes later, the fire had already engulfed the upstairs portion of their house.
He bore no grudges against a neighbor, Unabia added.
“Why me? I am already old. Why would I get a piece of clothing and burn my house?” Unabia said in Cebuano.
According to the report of the Cebu City Disaster Coordinating Council, 440 families lost their homes in Tuesday’s fire.
The City Council yesterday declared Sitios Naba and Pungtod in Mambaling calamity areas so that funds specifically allocated to help victims can be released.
In a talk with reporters yesterday, Unabia said that when his neighbors, particularly Gemma de la Cerna, accused him of starting the fire, he got his knife and fled from the area.
He grabbed a P20 bill that he found in his house and used it to catch a ride to his cousin’s house in Carcar.
Blood
His cousin, Dado Unabia, already knew about what happened when he got there. Early yesterday morning, Gregorio got his knife and went to the woods to try to kill himself.
Unabia tried to stab himself in the stomach four times but the knife wasn’t sharp enough to penetrate deeply.
He returned to his cousin’s house with his shirt bearing smudges of blood.
A few minutes after, the police arrived and arrested him.
Unabia believes that his cousin’s neighbor might have seen him getting inside the house with his bloodstained shirt and reported him to the police.
Unabia said he wanted to kill himself since he could not bear being accused of causing the fire, which he repeatedly said was untrue.
Police investigators said Unabia will be facing arson charges and will be investigated further on the stabbing incident a neighbor has pinned on him.
(April 21, 2005 issue)
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