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Friday, July 28, 2006
Pageant organizers violated fire rules: marshal
By Ben O. Tesiorna
DAVAO CITY -- Charges of reckless imprudence resulting in homicide could be filed against organizers of the school pageant that student Cheryl Sarate joined last week and where she got the burns that caused her death.
Fire Superintendent Rico Kwan Tiu, chief fire marshal of the Bureau of Fire Protection in Davao City, said in a television interview the organizers of the pageant could be held liable for the death of Sarate, if proven they were amiss in making any precautions to prevent such a tragedy.
Sarate, a 16-year-old AB English freshman of the University of Southeastern Philippines (Usep), died from severe burns three days after her costume caught fire from a lighted candle used as props in a beauty pageant in their school early evening of July 20.
Tiu said the use of candle, which falls under an open flame category, needs prior approval from the fire department.
"So far ito pa lang ang nakikita nating (this is the only) violation (we've seen). But we are still keeping on with our investigation at patuloy pa kaming nangangalap ng mga ebidensya at (and we are getting) statements from the witnesses," he said.
The university's student council said what happened to Sarate highlights the "dangers" that can befall students inside the school campus because of "insufficient facilities and safety measures."
School administrators who have remained mum about the incident will issue an official statement during a press conference on Friday morning.
Sarate was walking down the ramp adorned with lighted candles when her costume caught fire. She was wearing a dress made of cotton that had a plastic lining.
The plastic lining made it difficult to put out the fire that burned the plastic wrapped around her. The girl sustained third degree burns.
The city fire department started its investigation Monday, four days after the incident, since the school administration did not seek any assistance from them at the time of the accident.
School officials have remained mum about the incident even as the Commission on Higher Education (Ched) said it would conduct an investigation on the matter once it receives a formal complaint.
As of Wednesday, Ched officials said they have yet to receive a complaint.
The incident has caused a rift between the school administration and the media covering the story. The school allegedly berated the media for sensationalizing the story without any regard to its effect on the school's reputation.
ABS-CBN's Banat host Stephen Manangan challenged the school administration to say something and not keep silent over the incident that resulted in the death of one of their students.
In a statement e-mailed to Sun.Star Thursday, the university's Obrero Campus Student Council (OCSC) insisted that Sarate was a victim to "the deteriorating situation of the country's state universities and colleges (SUCs), as with the University of Southeastern Philippines."
"(The incident) is a sad picture of state colleges and universities in the country that students have long endured -- the kind of state neglect and abandonment due to the national government's less prioritization of education," OCSC president Alfe Keith Apalit said in the statement. (Sun.Star Davao/Sunnex)
(July 28, 2006 issue)
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