ZCZC
BFF-27
PHILIPPINES-FIRE
Philippines’ Duterte vows to get to truth of deadly mall blaze
DAVAO, Philippines, Dec 26, 2017 (BSS/AFP) – Philippine President Rodrigo
Duterte vowed Tuesday to get to the truth about a blaze in his home city that
killed 37 call centre workers.
He said he made the promise during a meeting on Monday night with the
families of those killed in a shopping mall fire in the southern city of
Davao.
“I assured them… that the truth will — let the truth come out,” Duterte
said. “That is what they are asking for. Just the truth of what happened.”
The justice and labour departments have ordered separate investigations
into Saturday’s blaze.
Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre has said his office would investigate
the fire with a view to bringing criminal charges.
The fire broke out in the four-storey NCCC Mall shortly before it opened to
shoppers. But it killed 37 people working in a 24-hour call centre for US-
based market research firm SSI on the top floor.
At a Davao hospital Tuesday families of the dead waited in a silence broken
only by occasional sobs as government workers tried to identify the charred
remains before releasing them to relatives.
Social welfare officers said that so far, five bodies had been turned over.
Rhen Muyco recalled the last message his 25-year-old daughter Renzi Nova
sent the family as the fire raged Saturday.
“Ma, there is a fire here. If something happens to me, I love you all,” the
phone message read.
Labour Secretary Silvestre Bello said Tuesday his office was launching an
inquiry separate from the justice department’s investigation.
“We just want to find out the cause of the fire and if there was compliance
with safety and health standards,” he told AFP.
The Associated Labor Unions said the high death toll and the extent of the
blaze suggested that rules on fire exits, sprinkler systems and other safety
measures had not been followed.
Mall administrators have denied that fire exits were inadequate or blocked.
Deadly blazes occur regularly in the Philippines, with fire safety rules
often disregarded due to corruption or exploitation.
The fire was just one of a series of tragedies that turned the usually
festive Christmas season in the Philippines into one of grief for many.
At least 240 people were killed, with over a hundred still missing, when
Tropical Storm Tembin struck the country’s main southern island of Mindanao
on Friday, causing floods and landslides throughout the weekend.
On Monday 20 people were killed in a road accident in the northern
Philippines as they headed for a traditional Christmas mass.
BSS/AFP/MSY/1503 hrs