Cops leading probe into fatal firewall collapse

CEBU, Philippines - The police are now the main investigators into the collapse of a firewall of a department store undergoing construction in Barangay Tisa that killed five and injured six construction workers the other day.

SPO2 Jay Yballe of the Cebu City Police Office, said that Office of the Building Official’s findings will also have a vital role in their investigation regarding the reason behind the tragedy.

Yballe, the chief investigator, said they decided yesterday to invite the families of the victims to appear before the CCPO-Homicide Section on Monday to have their statements recorded.

The remains of the five fatalities were already taken to their hometown in Carmen last Wednesday afternoon.

As to Charlie Yu Chiu, owner of the CYC Construction firm, the chief investigator said they will send another invitation to Yu if he still fails to appear before them today.

Yballe said Yu was supposed to come to the CCPO yesterday morning but he was at the City Hall as per invitation also regarding the incident.

Four of the victims died on the spot when the firewall of the building they were building collapsed shortly past Tuesday midnight.

The victims, who worked as either masons or laborers, were workers of CYC, the firm building the Gaisano Capital branch in the area.

The victims were identified as Doenny Delan, 30, and his brother Christian, 27; Teodulfo Detumal, of legal age; Lyndon Melendrez, 18; and Argie Ceniza, 27 who was declared dead hours later at the hospital.

Injured were Jerome Siose, 19; Ricardo Rixon Villegas, 27; Joy Manseras, 36; Arnel Pacible, 23; Roel Pasaje, 26; and Noel Lucero, 23.

They were reportedly doing overtime work when the accident happened.

Building official Josefa Ylanan will submit directly to Mayor Tomas Osmeña her request for additional technical personnel for the OBO so her office may be able to inspect the ongoing building constructions in the city as one way to prevent future incidents.

OBO’s job is to ensure the safety of the ongoing constructions and the existing buildings by conducting constant inspection, but it cannot comply with this task due to lack of technical personnel.

While Osmeña did not assure that Ylanan’s request would be approved right away, he said he will evaluate the request.

According to Osmeña he did not receive any request from Ylanan to hire more technical personnel for OBO, like engineers and architects, so he cannot be blamed if the Office of the Building Officials lacks manpower.

Ylanan said she sent requests for additional technical personnel to the City Hall personnel office, but this was not acted upon.

For several occasions, the City Council had asked OBO to inspect the structural stability of the existing old buildings in the city, particularly the boarding houses, but it was not acted upon because of lack of personnel.

Ylanan said she needs at least 15 more technical personnel so she can assign them to inspect the ongoing building constructions to ensure that the contractors comply with the standard specifications based on the approved building permit applications.

She admitted that because OBO only has 12 technical personnel, only three of them were assigned by her for inspection because the nine others are tasked to review the building permit applications.

Ylanan said it would be impossible for the three inspectors to inspect all ongoing constructions in the city, including the existing old buildings to determine their structural integrity.

Meanwhile, operations are underway to clear the debris of the collapsed firewall.

A 24-hour on-site monitoring since yesterday was also being conducted after a fire broke out on the second floor shortly before 8 p.m. on the same day. The fire was caused by the welding sparks that fell on some materials that caught fire. Damage was minimal.

The OBO has already come up with the initial report from the technical inspection conducted but the report is awaiting the approval of the mayor before it can be divulged to the public. — Niña G. Sumacot, Jessica Ann R. Pareja, Rene U. Borromeo and intern Sheila Marie Catacutan/BRP   (FREEMAN NEWS)