Puno gives BFP 48 hours to probe Pasay mall fire

Interior and Local Government Secretary Ronaldo Puno gave the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) 48 hours to thoroughly investigate and report on the issues surrounding a fire that destroyed P30-million worth of property in the Galleria Baclaran Shopping Mall in Pasay City last week.

Puno said he wanted to find out the truth on four basic issues: the allegations of extortion hurled against the BFP; the cooperation that took place between the BFP and private firefighting groups; access to water supply in the area; and compliance with fire safety regulations by the stall owners and management of the mall.

“I want names, not mere anecdotes, to back up the results of your investigation,” he told BFP officials during a command conference at the DILG’s main office.

At least two stall owners denied the allegations of extortion, saying bystanders – not firefighters ­– tried to solicit money from them in exchange for protecting their stalls from the fire.

“I want cases filed against those responsible for the fire and the delays and obstacles that the BFP had encountered in putting out the fire,” Puno said. “Find out if there are also BFP officers or men involved, I don’t care what rank. The BFP should be the first one to file charges against them because they are destroying the good name of the bureau.”

At the same time, Puno also directed Undersecretary for Public Safety Marius Corpus to initiate a dialogue with private firefighting volunteer groups in order to come up with guidelines and standard operating procedures on how they can assist and cooperate with the BFP in putting out fires.

Puno also ordered a probe into reports that an official of the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) administration office had barred the BFP from refilling water at a fire hydrant within its complex.

“That’s a fire hydrant ( in CCP) which according to Maynilad is not metered so that is for everybody’s use. But for one reason or another, the security of the CCP refused and even threatened the firemen who are trying to take water, saying that there was an order from the administrator of the CCP not to allow the firemen to use the fire hydrant. That is a violation of the Fire Code so we will be filing the proper charges,” said Corpuz.

Puno also ordered the formation of a separate team to determine if there was possible negligence on the part of certain tenants of the mall, who could have disregarded fire safety regulations and started the fire that razed the whole building.