The Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) is continuing its investigation into the house fire that killed two brothers, aged 2 and 4, in Sinacaban, Misamis Occidental.
According to BFP-Sinacaban Fire Marshal SFO4 Anthony Rebotaso, they have not yet released a final report but are actively probing the cause of the blaze that consumed the home of spouses Jenny and Asiong in Lower Rubia.
Rebotaso acknowledged the spread of various theories regarding why the children’s mother was not home when the fire broke out.
The mother faced criticism on social media after it was alleged she had locked the children inside the house.
Some accounts suggested she stepped out briefly and locked the door as the siblings had a tendency to wander.
Others claimed she went to the mountains to earn money for the family’s needs, prompting her to secure the house to prevent the children from leaving.
Relatives and neighbors remain uncertain whether the fire was caused by an unattended stove or a lighter the children may have been playing with.
The grandmother reportedly said that one of the children was seen playing with a lighter shortly before the incident.
In a heartbreaking detail, the older brother shielded his younger sibling from the flames by covering him with his body; they were later found lifeless, embracing one another.