Fire safety: When will we ever learn?

One important piece of news that we failed to comment because of the holiday break was the report that the Oplan Balikatan joint military exercises with the US Military and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) has been cancelled allegedly due to the custody issue over convicted rapist Marine Lance Corporal Daniel Smith. I don't really blame the Americans if they are not happy over the fact that we have not really honored what is written in our Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA).

An agreement is for both parties to follow and this rape case has done more damage for the Philippines than we need. After all, many people still believe that Nicole wasn't really raped. In the first place a decent woman wouldn't be found in the company of strangers especially US military men who are always on the prowl for loose women who love to drink liquor but can't hold it. That's what Daniel Smith saw in Nicole, but the leftist organizations that hate the Americans with a passion and supported her cause painted a very bad picture of what would have been a non-issue. Yes, this cancellation means we are now alone in fighting the terrorist groups.

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It sounded surreal, but as I was watching CNN the other night waiting to see a special tv presentation on the 2nd anniversary of the 2004 great Asian Tsunami in the Indian Ocean when the breaking news was flashed that the Japanese Metrological survey reported a huge earthquake happening in Southern Taiwan and a tsunami alert was sounded for the Philippines. All night long, I waited for any report, but fortune was on our side, there was no one-meter high tsunami that struck Luzon. But the earthquake heavily damaged most of the southern cities in Taiwan.

No one can ever forget the great Asian Tsunami on Dec.26, 2004. It killed a quarter of a million people in what would be called the greatest tsunami the world has ever seen, which affected Southeast Asia, India, Sri Lanka, the Maldives and all the way to South Africa. Strangely, that 7.6 magnitude earthquake that struck southern Taiwan came exactly two years after the Great Asian Tsunami, which we all know was triggered by an undersea earthquake on the Andaman Sea. Is this a coincidence or is Mother Earth telling us to clean up our environment otherwise we shall see more destruction to come?

Again, we have to thank our lucky stars that despite our close proximity to that recent earthquake, we did not hear of any reports of casualties even if the earthquake was also felt in Ilocos Norte. Let's just hope that for the coming New Year of 2007, we shall see less of these natural calamities hitting our country. All in God's grace.

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But while we were spared any damage from that Taiwan earthquake, I was very shocked to hear the news about the fire that struck the Unitop Store in Ormoc City, where some 24 shoppers died because initial fire investigation showed that the fire exit doors were padlocked! Twenty-four people are now dead because some idiot in that store kept the fire exit door locked! Someone ought to pay for this wanton criminal act.

It is easy for us to blame the Fire Department for looking away thanks to certain corrupt practices of unscrupulous firemen. But are they to be blamed for this tragedy? There is no question that operators of business establishments padlock their fire exit doors especially during the night because this is where thieves can enter.

The modus operandi of most thieves is to go inside the store when it is about to close and quietly open the exit door so they can force their way back inside the store when it is closed. This is understandable. However, someone should be responsible to remove those locks when the store is open because a padlocked exit door makes the store a virtual firetrap and that's what exactly happened at the Unitop tragedy a couple of days ago.

Too often also, shoppers really don't care to find out where the fire exits are and too often, establishments do not even put visible signs as to the location of their fire exits. This tragedy, just like the Ozone Disco tragedy on March 18,1996 that killed many people, including scions of rich Cebuanos. So when will we ever learn the lessons on fire safety? As for me when I go to a new place, I always ask the man in charge or a waiter if it is a restaurant where the fire exits are. It's a simple question that could save your life. Of course, you must also check this out yourself because you might just discover to your horror that the fire exit (if it is not padlocked) might lead you to a dead end, which would bring you literally from the frying pan into the fire!

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