Ayala Land shuts off condo gas system

MANILA, Philippines - Gas supply at the Two Serendra condominium in Taguig City has been shut off as investigators continue to look for what triggered the May 31 gas explosion at the building and who could be held liable for the damage and deaths.

Property developer Ayala Land Inc. (ALI) said in a statement that it shut off its liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) supply at the condominium at 9 p.m. last Saturday in line with a recommendation from Interior and Local Government Secretary Manuel Roxas II for “an immediate and comprehensive check on the LPG systems of all residential and commercial establishments within Bonifacio Global City to ensure that all components, including fittings and meters, are safe.”

There are 78 unit owners at Two Serendra.

Roxas, for his part, declined to pinpoint liability but assured families of the three fatalities that they would get justice.

“I don’t want to preempt the result of the investigation. Our policy is to stick with the evidence. We can’t be ahead of the evidence and then justify our suspicion,” Roxas told reporters.

Abenson workers Jeffrey Umali, Marlon Bandiola, and Sallymar Natividad died when a large slab of concrete torn from the building by the explosion fell on their vehicle as it was passing nearby. Seriously injured in the blast was tenant Angelito San Juan.

“Yes, they will get justice in a variety of ways. We will determine what really happened,” Roxas said, adding that you can’t just be driving home from work and get hit by a flying concrete slab.

“Whoever is responsible will be included in the charges,” the DILG chief said.

Exactly a week after the incident, Roxas announced that gas and not a bomb caused the blast at Unit 501-B of Two Serendra.

In his Twitter post, Roxas said ALI president Tony Aquino had informed him through text about the firm’s decision to shut down the piped-in gas system at Serendra and undertake necessary inspections.

“Hi Sec Mar-the whole Serendra Cond Corp has already agreed to shut down whole LPG system... This was completed early this morning. Checking of restaurants in our buildings on-going & will be completed today. FYI,” Roxas quoted Aquino in his Twitter account.

He said the focus of the investigation is on the centralized gas system.

“By design, it followed the same plans in Tokyo, Japan, and New York, San Francisco or Chicago where gas is centralized. The point is, we have to be careful to make sure that the checks are working,” Roxas said.

“Having a centralized gas system is not necessarily good or bad. It is really whether you can maintain it properly and keep it to world-class standards so that leaks and defective safety devices are prevented,” he pointed out.

Serendra Inc. president Bernard Vincent Dy said they are dealing with the matter with a “safety-first mindset” to make sure such kind of accident does not happen again.

He said residents would be informed of the schedules of safety inspection in each unit.

Roxas said his department is continuously monitoring the progress of the investigation spearheaded by the Philippine National Police.

“We owe you (the Filipino people) the rigor, we owe you the world-class performance and service,” Roxas said.

“The safety of the public will not be sacrificed for any commercial profit.”

In Malolos City, the widow of one of the fatalities in the blast said she is now considering suing ALI if only to make the property giant provide for her children’s educational needs.

Lilibeth Natividad, widow of Sallymar Natividad, said she changed her mind about not filing charges against ALI after realizing the difficulty she would likely encounter in raising her two children – Ivy 14, and Hope, 10.

Lilibeth, a housewife, is seven months pregnant. On Saturday, Lilibeth told The STAR she would rather at the moment get over her grief over her husband’s death than think about suing ALI, considering the prohibitive cost of litigation.

Lilibeth said ALI representatives are set to meet her today.

She said that while ALI and Abenson had provided her assistance for the burial of her husband, additional help for her children’s education is in order. Neil Jerome Morales, Mike Frialde, Dino Balabo