Suspect in Punta fire that hit 600 houses to face arson case

THE Cebu City Fire Office (CCFO) will file a case of arson against a woman who allegedly set her house on fire, causing a conflagration that affected five sitios in Barangay Punta Princesa, Cebu City on Saturday evening, June 11, 2022.A total of 655 houses were either damaged or destroyed by the fire, displacing 850 families and 3,337 individuals.CCFO spokesperson SFO2 Windell Villanueva said they will file a case against Marilou “Marimar” Alfeche within this week, after some witnesses identified her as the one who started the fire.Villanueva said they learned Alfeche had a companion when the suspect set her house ablaze. The person will also be included in the complaint.For her part, Alfeche denied the accusation during an interview with the police. She said it was her brother-in-law who had threatened to set the house on fire if she would not leave their residence.Based on the CCFO’s investigation, Villanueva said, prior to the fire, Alfeche had an argument with another household member after her live-in partner got arrested in an anti-illegal drug operation.Alfeche is now temporarily placed at the Labangon Police Station detention cell.The police are also looking into drug concealment as the possible motive for the fire that damaged P16.5 million worth of properties in sitios Tuburan, Enriquez, Trinidad, Merco and Arca.“Naa tay suspetsado. Usa na si Marimar ug naa pay laing kuyog niya nga apil sa kaso (We already have a suspect in Marimar and she has also a companion that will be included in the case),” Villanueva said.“Makig-alayon man ta sa PNP niini. Ni-deny man gyud si Marimar sa dihang siya gikuhaan og pamahayag sa atong investigator. Apan posible usab nga dunay concealment. Unsa may i-conceal? Katong mga drugas mga epektos. Di ba naa man to dakop prior sa sunog? Kana siya posibling makakuha ta og mga ebidensiya,” Villanueva added.(We will coordinate with the PNP [Philippine National Police] on this. Marimar strongly denied when she was interrogated by our investigator. But it is also possible that there was a concealment. What would they conceal? The illegal drugs and some drug paraphernalia. Wasn’t there a raid prior to the fire? That is where we could possibly get evidence).