Makati police set to turn over Glorietta blast site to Ayala Land
The Glorietta 2 blast site will finally be turned over to the management of Ayala Land Inc. (ALI) next week.
This, even as all the 15 persons identified by the Multi-Agency Investigation Task Force (MAITF) as responsible for the explosion were deemed safe from any legal action while the Department of Justice reviews the report on the incident.
Superintendent Gilbert Cruz,
“The subject area will once more be placed in Ayala’s care. It will be up to them to do what they intend,” Cruz, who led a group that toured the blast site yesterday, said.
He stressed that since appropriate charges have already been filed against those found responsible, related issues now would have to be discussed in court.
Alfonso Reyes, ALI spokesperson, welcomed the news that the Glorietta 2 area would soon be turned over to them. “Once it is placed under our care we will continue to assess the site. We will come out with a structural assessment of the area to know what to do next,” he said.
Reyes added the results of the assessment would help them decide if there is a need to totally demolish the remaining structures and start constructing a new building again, or engage in rehabilitation activities.
“Definitely there will be development plans for the area. It will be developed as a commercial spot once more, but as to when this will commence, we cannot determine yet,” he said.
Earlier, the MAITF ruled out terrorism as the cause of the blast, citing the apparent failure of those named in the charge sheet to observe “due care and diligence” to prevent the accident.
The MAITF said ALI officials were excluded from the charges because of the absence of probable cause.
Voluminous documents
Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez, in an interview over government-run dzRB, admitted it would take a long time to finish his review of the MAITF’s findings because of the amount of documents he has in his possession.
Gonzalez pointed out that what was submitted to him were six very thick folders, which he said were the size of hardbound books.
It was Gonzalez who asked for the documents, which came with the charge sheets for the 15 individuals who are facing legal action supposedly for negligence in the performance of their duties that led to the “accident.”
He said he wanted to review the charges before sending them over to the prosecutor’s office and that he has final say on who should or should not be charged.
“There are six, let us say, books, which are very thick. I’m just starting to review them. It will take some time considering that I have other things to attend to also,” Gonzalez said.
Gonzalez said the independent and private investigations conducted by ALI and other groups are unofficial and can only be used for their own consumption.
“The only investigation that is official is the one that comes from the police and the National Bureau of Investigation,” he said.
“All of the other investigations of the private sector, that is for their own consumption and that is a preparation maybe for their own defense,” he added.
He emphasized that the work of the government investigators cannot be impeded by the actions of their private counterparts who were not part of the process.
Gonzalez lashed back at critics, saying they could have done more during the investigation by fully cooperating with the PNP.
“Actually, if they were really sincere then they should have cooperated when the police were still investigating,” he said.
Sollano was not relieved
Meanwhile, the Philippine Army (PA) took exception from reports that it relieved an officer whose team responded first and recovered a plastic bag with traces of explosives from the Glorietta blast site.
Army spokesman Maj. Ernesto Torres Jr., said Maj. Allan Sollano is still the Army’s Explosives and Ordnance Battalion executive officer.
“He is still the battalion executive officer of our EOB while waiting for his retirement,” Torres said.
He added that after Sollano and his team turned over the evidence they gathered in the blast site to police investigators, they immediately returned to their unit at
Being part of the Task Force, Sollano also did not file an official report with the higher headquarters, but secured an acknowledgment receipt from his police counterparts showing that his team had turned over the evidence they recovered.
“He (Sollano) secured an acknowledgment receipt from his police counterparts out of the evidence he and his team have recovered. That was only their role in the probe,” Torres said.
It was also learned that Sollano and his team were in close coordination with the Philippine Bomb Data Center when they entered the so-called “ground zero,” where they recovered a plastic bag with RDX residues.
This is to debunk several claims that Sollano and his team could have planted the evidence, an allegation that also forced Sollano to give way to other probers.
On the other hand, Torres said the non-inclusion of the Army’s evidence in the final police report over the explosion could have been overshadowed by overwhelming evidence gathered by the MIATF probers. – Marvin Sy, Jaime Laude
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