Ballerina Lisa Macuja-Elizalde, wife of the owner of FJ Elizalde Group of Companies which include Star City, Aliw Theater and Manila Broadcasting Company, remembered the “birthday gift” that her husband gave her.
“Nineteen years ago, Fred gave me an 850-seater theater named Star in the middle of his amusement park named Star City. Two birthdays later he gave me Aliw Theater,” she said on her Instagram page.
“[Last day], we lost almost everything in a devastating fire that ate up Star Theater, Star City, MBC building and parts of Aliw Theater… On my 55th birthday I would just like to say THANK YOU to all who will remember those glorious years of the park complex that brought so much joy to me, my family, my company and our community! Mabuhay po tayong lahat! Thank you to the Lord for NO ONE WAS HURT! Thank you to all who remember me today! Thank you for making me feel so very blessed!” she added.
The adjacent and famous Star City amusement park has also formally announced on its Facebook page the “temporary cessation of [its] operations until a full assessment of the situation can be made.”
A day after 80 percent of the amusement park was damaged by a four-hour blaze, fire probers went to the site to conduct their investigation.
Pasay City Fire Marshal Paul Pili said that they had already collected ashes from the amusement park and sent them to an arson laboratory to check if it had gasoline or any other chemical substance.
He earlier said that investigations might take 45 days before they can conclude the actual cause of fire.
The fire started at 12:30 a.m. on Wednesday and reached Task Force Bravo by 2:25 a.m., engulfing Star City, MBC office and Aliw Theater. The fire was placed under control by 4:30 a.m. and put out past 2 p.m.
Star City spokesman Ed de Leon pegged the amount of damage at P1 billion. (Joseph Pedrajas)
