A SEXAGENARIAN perished in a “self-inflicted and intentional” fire in a remote area of Zamboanga del Norte, the police said Monday, July 16, 2018.
Chief Superintendent Edwin de Ocampo, Police Regional Office-Zamboanga Peninsula deputy regional director for administration, said the incident happened around 12:10 a.m. Monday in Pitogo village, Gutalac town.
He identified the fatality as Leonardo Montefalcon, 64, who was drunk at the time of the incident.
De Ocampo said investigation showed that Montefalcon, prior to the incident, was drunk and threatened to kill his wife, Clarita, and to burn their house.
The police officer said Clarita, as a result of the threat, left and sought refuge in their neighbor’s houses leaving her drunk husband alone.
“Every time the victim (Montefalcon) got drunk, he always threatened his wife, Clarita Montefalcon, that she will be beheaded and that he will burn their house,” he said quoting a report from Gutalac town.
The house of the Montefalcons was engulfed in flames an hour after Clarita left and she was not aware that her husband was trapped inside, the police officer said.
The charred remains of Montefalcon was recovered from the burnt house. The estimated damage was placed at P67,200.
The Gutalac police said the cause of fire “was believed to be self-inflicted and intentionally burned by the victim (that) resulted to the total destruction and loss of his life.” (Bong Garcia/SunStar Philippines)