On June 21, a fire broke out in Manila’s Paco district, at the corner of Osmeña Highway and Quirino Avenue in Barangay 734, Zone 80. The fire reached fifth alarm and displaced about 200 families from their homes.
Thankfully, no casualties were reported. That is, except for some pets.
In the midst of the chaos during the fire, a moment of struggle and pure desperation was beautifully captured on camera. Inquirer photographer Lyn Rillon chanced a photo of Carlos Pangilinan desperately punching through locked bird cages to save his beloved pets.
The tennis player-turned-coach is known to have a fondness for the winged creatures. Unfortunately, he was only able to save one.
The photo is now going viral on social media, primarily through the facebook post from Inquirer.net’s official account.
Netizens are admiring the photo for capturing genuine desperation and for being beautifully framed. One user even said, “it look[ed] like a scene from a movie.”
It only goes to show that beauty may come from chaos.
However, that doesn’t change the fact that those families still lost their homes and Pangilinan still lost many of his dear pets.