Ayala Land 'in touch' with Serendra blast victims

MANILA, Philippines - The Ayala Land Inc. (ALI) has been "in touch" with the families of the three Abenson employees killed in the Two Serendra blast in Taguig City on May 31.

"Rest assured we are in touch with them," said Suzette Naval of ALI corporate communications.

The three workers of appliance supplier Abenson were on board a van when they were pinned to death by a huge slab of concrete that was ripped by the explosion at Unit 501-B of Two Serendra condominium and thrown onto McKinley Parkway road.

The three slain employees were identified as Sallymar Natividad, Jeffrey Umali and Marlon Bandiola.

Natividad's widow, Lilybeth, said she still intends to file charges against ALI for her husband's death should the developer fail to extend additional assistance such as scholarships for her two daughters, Ivy, 14 and Hope, 10.

Lilibeth said ALI and Abenson already gave assistance for her husband's funeral and burial.

Interior and Local Government Secretary Mar Roxas had said that the explosion could be related to liquefied petroleum gas as no traces of explosives were found at the site.

Roxas, however, clarified that the investigators have yet to determine if ALI should be held liable for the incident.

He said that the initial focus of the investigation was to determine the cause of the blast and how the findings would help to prevent a similar incident in the future. – Alexis Romero