NBI: No proof yet of arson in port fire

A week after the P200-million fire at the Cebu Ports Authority warehouse, investigators of the National Bureau of Investigation yesterday said they still have to establish evidences to prove there was arson. NBI executive officer Ernesto Macabare said they have so far subpoenaed five witnesses, including security guard Elmer Tanawan, to get their statements and put them on polygraph tests to see if they were telling the truth.

Macabare however refused to reveal the names of the other witnesses and the results of the lie detector tests saying it would be premature for the NBI to do so at this time.

The NBI has requested the Bureau of Fire Protection for a joint inventory of the items burned inside the CPA warehouse where seized and abandoned imported goods and luxury vehicles were stored. Initial reports showed there were 22 vehicles in the warehouse when the fire struck.

Macabare said they asked the Insurance Corporation to see which of the burned items in the warehouse were insured. They also coordinated with the Securities and Exchange Commission to know the incorporators of Starlite Cargo, the place where the fire allegedly started.

Logbooks of the Bureau of Customs indicating the movements of goods before and during the fire were also gathered and studied, said Macabare.

The investigation flow however had to drag through a snag, especially on safety of probers should they enter the gutted warehouse for inspection. Macabare said equipment and engineers are needed to ensure that debris will not collapse once they are inside the place for an inventory.