Valladolid Mayor Ricardo Presbitero yesterday said that the priceless items destroyed during the fire at the convent of the Our Lady of Guadalupe Church in his municipality Tuesday night were more important than the cost of damage incurred during the incident.

In a report prepared by the Office of the Municipal Engineer of Valladolid, the estimated cost of damage of the two-story convent is P2,460,840. Only the stone structure of the building remained after the fire raged for about an hour before it was controlled.

Presbitero called the convent, which was the first edifice to be erected in Valladolid in 1850, "a priceless heritage and treasure of the municipality".

Among the priceless items burned were the relics of the Sacred Heart, Sto. Niño, St. Dympna, the statue of Agony and two big pictures of Our Lady of Guadalupe, he said.

Cash of P3,105 was also burned as well as two refrigerators, a Xerox copier and a desktop computer with complete accessories, he added.

Presbitero said the fire started at around 8 p.m. at the room of Fr. Fred Gamarcha. It was not controlled immediately because Valladolid did not have its own fire truck, he said.

Faulty electrical wirings are being eyed as the cause of the fire, which was controlled by the Bago fire station, because Gamarcha does not use a candle in his room, the Valladolid mayor said.

He said the last time Valladolid acquired a fire truck was in 2001, when they bought a second hand one from Amity costing about P700,000.

Valladolid has yet to buy a new fire truck because there have been no big fire incidents in the past and his office is prioritizing the social issues concerning the municipality, Presbitero said.

Housed in the convent during the fire were Salvador Galon, Panoy Gamarcha, Jun-jun Gamarcha, Jumon Galon, Macmac Galon and Dodi Placido.

No one was injured during the incident, Presbitero said. *CIT

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