CEBU CITY, Philippines - Multicab driver Michael Sanchez and his wife had to work overtime on Sunday, pressured by an unpaid electric bill and no power at home.

When they returned home in the evening to Purok (district) Five, Barangay (village) Babag II in Lapu-Lapu City, three of their children were already dead.

Fire officials said the kids were trapped in the house believed set ablaze by a lighted candle that may have fallen.

A fourth child was unharmed because he chose to sleep with his grandmother, who lives a few meters away.

Michael, 32 and wife Jocelyn, 31, were inconsolable.

The mother collapsed at least four times, unable to accept the violent fate of her children.

Michael kept calling out the name of their youngest child, five-year-old Mike John.

The boy?s body was found in a tight embrace with his sister Yenche, 8, near the door of their bedroom.

Firemen found the body of the eldest, 11-year-old Yenchelle, on the bed near the window.

With no power supply in the two-bedroom concrete house, the fire could have been accidentally set off by a lighted candle, said Senior Fire Officer 3 Rodrigo Ygot of the Lapu-Lapu City fire department.

He said the father told them the family would usually light a candle in the living room, where the fire started.

Ygot said the children may have been trapped in their bedroom room, where the windows had iron grills.

Neighbors said they heard shouts and tried to break down the doors and windows but could not rescue the children because the fire had already engulfed the house.

Michael and Jocelyn were on the road earning a living and had left their children at home Sunday night.

The parents had to raise P6,000 to settle an unpaid three-month bill with Mactan Electric Co, which had cut off power to the house.

Michael drives a passenger multicab accompanied by his wife as the conductor.

Michael used to work in a glass factory in Mandaue City but lost his job late last year due to the financial crisis, said his mother-in-law Anita Baguio, 53.

Anita said the couple had to sell firecrackers just to earn money last December. Barangay Babag is known as the fireworks capital of Lapu-Lapu City.

After the New Year, the couple decided to repair their multicab so Michael could drive for a living. He borrowed money to buy a new car engine on February 11.

Anita recalled checking on her grandchildren about 7 p.m. that Sunday. She told the girls Yenchelle and Yenche Marie to stop talking and go to sleep.

She then left to tend to her sari-sari store about 20 meters away. More than an hour later, she heard Yenchelle screaming her name and calling for help.

Anita said she, her other daughter Elizabeth Baguio and some neighbors tried to save the children but both the main and kitchen doors were closed.

The house had solid wood doors and an aluminum screen door. The windows had iron grills.

Esperanza Nable, a neighbor, said they tried to break down the doors and windows but the fire had already engulfed the house.

?Morag imperno na ang kayo. Bisan makasud pa mi di na gyud maluwas ang mga bata kay napuno na sa kayo ang tibuok balay (The fire was like hell. Even if we could get inside, we would not save the children because the entire house was on fire),? Nable said.

Anita said she was able to open the main door but had to back off because the blaze was uncontrollable.

?Niahat pa ko ug sud ika-upat nako nga mamatay (If I forced myself to get inside, I would have become the fourth fatality),? Anita said.

The fire alarm was received at 8:25 p.m. A fire truck from the Babag Fire Substation could not enter Purok Five Star because the area was impassable.

Water hoses had to be connected to penetrate the site.

?Gisumpay-sumpay lang gyud namo ang among hose aron makaabot sa lugar (We put together the hose so it could reach the fire scene),? Police Officer 1 Salisid Climaco said.

The official fire report of Lapu-Lapu City Fire Marshal Ricardo Cornelio said the fire was triggered by an unattended candle that ignited a sound box made of plywood in the living room.

Property damage was estimated at P60,000.

Elizabeth, 32 and Jocelyn's elder sister, said the children used candle light in the room and placed it atop a sound box.

There was also a ?lamparilla? or kerosene lamp hanging from the ceiling which the children could not reach.

?Gitago-an man sa ilang ginikanan ang kandila sa cabinet. Nakit-an siguro sa mga bata. Natumba siguro o nalanay ang kandila mao nasunog (Their parents hid the candles inside the cabinet. Maybe the children found them. Either the lighted candle fell or melted, causing the fire),? Elizabeth said.

She said that when the firemen arrived, the fire had eaten up the house with the children inside.

Michael and Jocelyn were supposed to go home by midnight but had to cut short their work when they learned of the fire past 10 p.m.

By then, it was too late.

The couple remained in a state of shock and refused to talk to other people except close relatives.

They kept crying, calling out the names of their children.

Jocelyn talked about how Yenchelle, her eldest daughter, would help take care of her younger siblings and wash laundry.

?Day Yen-yen, atimana imong mga manghud ha. Buotan man ka day Yen-yen. Ayaw pasagdi imong mga manghud ha (Inday Yen-yen, take care of your younger siblings. You are a good daughter. Don't neglect your younger siblings),? Jocelyn said as if talking to Yenchelle, while tears flowed down her cheeks.

Her husband did not talk but would keep shouting the name of his youngest son, Mike John.

Mike Justin, 9, was spared because he slept in the house of his grandmother, Anita, in Purok Rambo.

?Gusto man unta ang akong mama (Anita) nga mokuyog sa iyang igsuon si Mike Justin pero ang bata iya mang kabubut-on nga adto matulog sa iyang lola (My mother wanted him to sleep with Mike John but the boy decided on his own to sleep with his grandmother),? Elizabeth said.

Elizabeth recalled that the mother, Jocelyn, wanted to stay with her children that Sunday but her husband insisted that she go with him in the multicab for fear he may be the victim of highway robbers. Several robberies had been reported in their area.

The children?s grandmother, Anita, recalls a bad omen that day.

?About 3 p.m., the dog wouldn?t stop howling. It was a sign something bad was about to happen. We didn't know how to stop it,? she said in Cebuano.

Lapu-Lapu City administrator Teodulo Ybañez said the city government would provide aid, which is usually P5,000 cash as burial assistance. Since three family members died in the tragedy, Ybañez said the amount may be more.

With both parents still in shock, they would need more comfort and possibly relief gods, said Leonila Punongbayan, social worker in-charge in Babag.

Punongbayan said she was unable to talk with the couple who were in deep grief and not speaking to anybody outside their family. /with a report from Correspondent Jhunnex Napallacan