First of all, condolence to the families of the 11 individuals who perished in the August 2 fire that hit a building in Binondo.
It is sad to note that the number of fatalities was such, because the building was also operating a boarding house in one of its floors.
Based on a report from the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP), the tragic fire started at the ground floor and spread to the adjacent areas of the building trapping dead the victims, who were then sleeping.
Seven women and four men, including the wife of the building’s owner and two Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) personnel, died of suffocation during the fire which reached second alarm.
Reports have it that the fire started with a leak from one of the liquefied petroleum gas tanks later found on the ground floor.
As far as Manila is concerned, no application for the operation of a boarding house was ever applied for. This means that the building owner does not have a duly-issued license to operate as such.
Based on our initial investigation, the license applied for and approved was that of an eatery and that its staff will be staying in the quarters built for them inside the building.
As a private establishment, we cannot question the owner’s decision to let his staff stay there but there is a clear liability on his decision to operate a boarding house without getting the necessary license for it.
In the same breadth, the barangay chair who has jurisdiction over the area, we learned, lives in the building located right beside the one that got burned.
As village chiefs, those who head the barangays are expected to exercise the ‘due diligence’ of knowing what happens in their respective areas of jurisdiction and if anything illegal exists or operates within it.
The fact that the burnt building, which operates as a boarding house with so many occupants, was right beside the chairman’s residence, is something for the books.
Now if it were a kilometer away, I would have understood. But the fact that the illegal boarding house operates right beside where the barangay chairman lives smacks of total negligence.
It is also hard to believe that the barangay chair concerned does not know that the said building operates a boarding house on the side.
The most appropriate thing that should have been done is for the barangay to ensure that the boarding house was at least properly licensed.
Absent any documents to support its legitimacy, the next best thing would have been to report the matter to the units concerned in City Hall which, in turn, would conduct the necessary inspection and institute appropriate action should any violation be found.
Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Benjamin Abalos, Jr. has vowed to run after those liable for the said fire incident in Binondo.
When he inspected the remains of the mixed-use building hours after the fire was put out, Abalos raised questions that included how the building passed government standards, at the same time ordering the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) to submit a report on the incident.
We welcome this investigation and we commit our full cooperation on the matter.
