Monday, November 12, 2007 Council asks OBO to check malls
THE Cebu City Council last Wednesday asked the Office of the Building Official (OBO) to do an “in-depth” inspection of all malls and related businesses to make sure they comply with safety requirements.
The council cited the need to inspect power generator sets, in particular, following the Glorietta 2 mall blast in Manila last Oct. 19.
The Philippine National Police (PNP) ruled that the blast was caused by a gas explosion from the basement where the mall’s bunker fuel was allegedly stored.
The fuel or methane gas from a septic tank may have ignited in the tightly enclosed concrete basement and caused the explosion, which killed 11 and injured around 100.
Mall owners, though, disagreed, and brought in a foreign expert who expressed a contrary opinion.
The PNP, in its statements right after the blast, initially suspected a terrorist attack.
But in proposing his resolution, City Councilor Richard Osmeña used as reference Sen. Panfilo Lacson’s statement that bunker fuel vapor could have caused the explosion.
It may have been a simple accident, Lacson has said.
In a press release attached to a copy of Osmeña’s resolution, Lacson said the accident theory was bolstered by the “zero intelligence” of foreign embassies in the Philippines.
The senator said the foreign embassies have “very competent intelligence operatives” but they received no advance information on possible terrorist attacks.
Generator sets
Osmeña was concerned because like Glorietta 2, most establishments in the city are equipped with generator sets as back-up in case of power failure.
“The public must be assured that malls and other business establishments in the City of Cebu are safe and continually complied with safety requirements,” he said.
Section 104 of the National Building Code mandates that all structures “shall be maintained in safe, sanitary and good working condition.”
“This matter must be urgently addressed, considering that malls and other business establishments nowadays continue to be favorite places of leisure,” Osmeña added. (RHM)
