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The national police on Thursday recommended the filing of criminal
and administrative charges against 15 individuals in connection with
an explosion last year at an upscale mall in Makati City.
They did not recommend the filing of charges
against any officials of the mall owner, Ayala Land Inc. The blast
on October 19 killed 11 persons and injured more than 100 others.
Their 41-page final report on their
investigation of the explosion released Thursday said the blast was
caused by gas build-up, not a bomb, as has been contended by Ayala
Land.
The report, which was submitted to Interior
Secretary Ronaldo Puno, ruled out with finality that terrorists were
behind the explosion.
Puno expressed confidence that the results of
the police investigation would be “defensible in any court.” He
added that there is possibility the mall owners may face civil cases
to be filed by the victims of the blast or their families.
“As far as criminal cases are concerned, we
are sure there is no basis to charge them,” Puno added referring
to Ayala Land officials. “But civil liability may be a different
thing. What we are sure of at this time is that we found no basis to
file criminal charges against them.”
Blame them
The individuals who will face criminal charges
before the Justice department include officials of the Makati
Supermarket Corp.—Candelario Valdueza, project engineer; Marcelo
Botenes, building engineer; Jowell Velvez, building administrator;
and Arnel Gonzales, building manager. Other facing charges are
connected with Marchem Industrial Sales and Services Inc.—Clifford
Arriola, operations manager; Joselito Buenaventura, supervisor; and
maintenance personnel Charlie Nepomuceno, Jonathan Ibuna and Juan
Ricafort.
Marchem was hired by Ayala Land to maintain
electrical, mechanical and other facilities at the mall. Makati
Supermarket Corp. is a tenant of the mall owner.
Administrative charges for “gross neglect of
duty causing undue injury” will be faced by three fire safety
inspectors of Makati City Fire Station—Senior Fire Officer 4
Anthony Grey, Senior Fire Officer 2 Leonilo Balais and Fire
Prevention Officer Reynaldo Enoc. Such charges can be filed under
the Antigraft and Corrupt Practices Act (Republic Act 3019).
The Bureau of Fire Protection and the Department
of the Interior and Local Government will also file a separate case
for violation of the Fire Code of the Philippine against Makati
Supermarket; Ayala Property Management Corp; Ricardo Cruz, engineer
and operations manager of Metalline Enterprises; and Miguel Velasco
Jr., Metalline foreman.
Metalline Enterprises was commissioned by Makati
Supermarket and Ayala Property to install the exhaust and
ventilation system at the basement of Glorietta 2 in May 2007. The
explosion was said to have originated from the basement.
Administrative charges for “simple neglect of
duty” will also be filed against Chief Insp. Jose Embang Jr.,
Makati fire marshal.
Puno said authorities could still charge more
people if new evidence is found.
Ayala Land reacts
Ayala Land President Jaime Ayala said they are
“disappointed that the evidence we have shared [with the national
police] appears not to have been considered.”
In a statement, the mall owner stood by its own
initial finding disputing the police conclusion.
“We believe there was no methane or diesel
fumes produced, and no pressure or gas compression was created to
generate the kind of explosion that actually happened. Our own
assessment shows due diligence and care was exercised in the
maintenance of the basement where the explosion appears to have
occurred,” it said. Ayala Land added that they will submit
“forensic evidence” before the courts to prove the police wrong.
Police findings
Chief Supt. Luizo Ticman, Southern Police
District director and head of the Multi-Agency Investigation Task
Force that probed the blast, said the charges stemmed from
“negligence” that resulted in the gas build-up and explosion.
The task force found that methane had
accumulated at a space between the original and raised floorings in
the basement, and the automatic switch of a pump there triggered the
blast.
Ticman said there was no evidence of a bomb.
“We searched for possible blast craters, soot, blackening of
surface objects and other signs that would indicate the presence of
a bomb but found nothing.” He added that investigators found
evidence that a diesel gas pump and a sewage pump in the basement
had been malfunctioning since June 2007.
In an audio-visual presentation at national
police headquarters in Camp Crame in Quezon City, the task force
established that methane that had accumulated in the mall basement
reached its lower explosive limit, causing a methane explosion.
The methane explosion caused the sudden rise in
temperature and build-up of pressure in the basement, causing the
diesel fuel to reach its flash point and allow the build-up of
diesel vapor.
“Since the accumulation of diesel vapor inside
the tank reached its explosive range, the second explosion, the
diesel-vapor explosion, occurred,” the report said.
Consistent with foreign experts
National police chief, Director General Avelino
Razon Jr., said the findings of the task force are consistent with
those of US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Australian
Federal Police and an Israeli security expert.
Puno said the investigation was meant to find
probable cause for filing criminal cases, the reason why the probe
took almost three months.
Ayala Land had insisted that the explosion was
caused by a bomb and submitted the findings of its own foreign
experts that signs of “RDX,” an explosive, had been found at the
site.
But Ticman said these findings were likely an
“aberration” as his own investigators did not find signs of RDX.
Puno said, “We do not really care what [the]
Ayala investigators say. They are being investigated themselves.”
Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez said the report
compiled by the private investigators hired by Ayala Land will have
no bearing in court. He added that only the investigation conducted
by the national police and its subsequent report on the incident
will be used in court.
Gonzalez warned that entertaining Ayala Land’s
report would set a dangerous precedent as corporations with similar
problems can run roughshod against the government if they disagree
with police findings and ask for private investigators to look into
their cases.
He said the mall owner’s report can only be
used by the company during the trial of the case.
Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay, reacting to the
police report, said he hopes that the findings “would hurdle
public skepticism and the scrutiny of the courts.” He added that
the police have “to convince the courts that their gas theory is
credible.”
-- Anthony Vargas and James Konstantin Galvez with AFP
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