5 dead, 12 hurt as Rizal power plant scaffolding collapses

MANILA, Philippines - Five construction workers were killed and 12 others were hurt when a 70-foot-high scaffolding they were standing on collapsed in Pililia, Rizal Sunday.

The workers were fixing the smokestack of SPC Malaya Power Corp.’s power plant in Barangay Malaya when the scaffolding caved in at around 1 p.m., Senior Superintendent Rolando Anduyan, Rizal police director, said.

The smokestack was eight meters wide and 65 to 70 meters high, according to Chief Inspector Resty Soriano, Pililia police chief.

Joey Marco, head of the Antipolo City rescue unit, said the bodies of three of the victims identified as Eduardo Fidel, Gregorio Ricalde and Roberto Mesias were retrieved from the rubble while operations are ongoing to recover the bodies of Jeffrey Sinag and Antonio Manguerra.

The fatalities were all workers of East West contractors.

Police identified four of the injured as Benedicto Batain, Rogelio Carigma, Tereso Esguerra and Golberto Rodriguez. They were rushed to the Tanay General Hospital.

An investigation is underway to determine the cause of the accident, even as SPC Malaya assured the public that it complied with the safety guidelines.

The company also assured the victims and their families that they would be given financial assistance.

The plant manager has suspended the plant’s operations.

DOLE starts probe

Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz has deployed a team from the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE)-Calabarzon to investigate the incident.

“Our team is inspecting the worksite,” Baldoz said, adding that labor inspectors will check if the company and contractors complied with labor standards, including safety and health regulations.

Baldoz said the plant owner and contractors should provide medical and burial assistance, including the transport of the remains of the victims to the provinces, if necessary.

The labor chief said those who sustained injuries  are entitled to compensation from the Social Security System and the Employees Compensation Commission.

Baldoz said DOLE would also check if the power plant complied with the requirement to submit a construction safety plan.

“If there is no DOLE-approved safety plan, the local government should have not issued a building permit,” she said.

Baldoz said they have yet to determine if there is a need to suspend construction at the power plant.

Napocor to send evaluation team

The Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp. (PSALM), a state-owned entity managing the assets of the National Power Corp. (Napocor), said it would look into the incident report.

PSALM president Emmanuel Ledesma said  “SPC’s liability, if any, will depend on circumstances of the incident. PSALM team is already at the site to get a clearer picture of events, and Napocor will be sending an evaluation team.”

“But our priority now is to retrieve the casualties, check on the injured and minimize the trauma on the families,” Ledesma said.

Energy Secretary Carlo Jericho Petilla said the operator of the plant would be held liable, but said it would not stop the rehabilitation of the SPC power facility.

“We need to investigate them (SPC). At the same time, this does not mean we will stop the maintenance of the plant. We will clear what happened to make sure it won’t happen again but we need to maintain. It doesn’t mean any rehab, but we need to clean it up and maintain it because this particular plant is crucial when Malampaya goes down for maintenance sometime summer,”  Petilla said.

Meanwhile, the Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) blamed the failure of the plant owner to comply with safety regulations for the death of the five workers.

“We call for justice over the death of five of our fellow workers in the construction sector. Their death is yet another proof of big capitalists’ violations of safety guidelines with the connivance of the Aquino government,” KMU chair Elmer Labog said. – With Ed Amoroso, Mayen Jaymalin, Donabelle Gatdula