Mayor breaks silence on city hall blaze

No sabotage, just faulty wiring.

Four days after a fire hit the city hall, acting Malabon City Mayor Mark Allan Jay Yambao yesterday finally broke his silence, belying rumors that he was behind the incident.

There have been malicious talk, which the mayor attributed to his rivals, that the fire was intentional and was started for obvious motives from which only he and his administration stand to gain.

Yambao, in a media briefing at the City Amphitheater behind the city hall, vehemently denied any involvement in the fire that hit the budget office and other offices on the second floor of the three-story city hall.

"This is the truth behind imputations by malicious individuals and politicans who are showing off. It is not true that the fire started from the Budget Office and that it was deliberately set on fire to hide alleged anomalies under my leadership. There are no anomalies regarding the budget, I assure you. Malinis itong iiwan ko," Yambao said.

The Malabon Bureau of Fire Protection corroborated Yambao’s claim and said that the fire was caused by faulty wiring.

"Ang sunog ay nagmula sa Public Information Office at hindi sa Budget Office. Sa aming initial report ang dahilan ay faulty electrical wiring at walang anumang elemento ng pananabotahe. Hindi rin po gaanong nadamay ang Budget Office, gayundin ang Treasurer’s Office at ang COA (all on the second floor). Ang mga napinsala ng husto ay ang mga opisina ng PIO, Tourism, Personnel, Planning, Health, Sports at Cooperative," Malabon City Fire Marshal Senior Inspector Rodrigo Reyes said.

"The elections are over. I have long conceded. It is time for reconciliation. Wala nang dapat na ganitong pangyayari kaya’t ako’y nagtataka kung bakit ito ay iniuugnay pa sa akin," said Yambao, who ran for mayor for the first time under the Lakas-CMD, but lost in the recent elections.

Yambao was vice mayor until he assumed the mayor’s seat in an acting capacity middle of last year. He was designated to the post after former Mayor Amado "Boy" Vicencio was suspended in October by the Office of the President on recommendation of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) for 12 months after conviction for charges of grave abuse of authority.

Repairs are underway and normal services are expected to resume by next week.