BUSINESS process outsourcing company Dreamscape Networks wants Ayala Center Cebu to pay them for damages it caused when the mall’s Cinema 5 collapsed last June 15, injuring about six people.
John Nonato, lawyer of Dreamscape, sent a letter to Ayala demanding compensation for “damages, medical expenses, and other costs.”
Dreamscape gave Ayala 10 days to pay up. Otherwise, the firm will pursue the filing of damages lawsuit against the mall management before the Regional Trial Court in Cebu City.
Meeting
Cebu Holdings Inc. corporate communications manager Jeanette Japzon confirmed receiving the demand letter from Dreamscape, but she declined to give the specific amount that the BPO is demanding.
Japzon, a lawyer, said they already met with Dreamscape officials and discussed the issue.
“We hope to settle it among ourselves,” Japzon told Sun.Star Cebu by phone.
The mall management issued written and verbal apologies to Dreamscape for the incident.
Reporters visited Dreamscape’s office at the Cebu Business Park yesterday afternoon to get a copy of the demand letter, but the firm’s staff declined to give any document.
Dreamscape Networks chief executive officer Mark Evans, earlier, complained about the Ayala management’s 25-minute delay in its response to the emergency.
Report
In his report, Office of the Building Official (OBO) Chief Jose Marie Poblete said that private inspectors found a part of the pipe connection for the mall’s sprinkler system had been loosened.
It then caused the water to leak when the movie house was rented by Dreamscape for the launch of its new advertising campaign last June 15.
Inspectors also believe that the earthquake that jolted Cebu last March may have loosened the pipe connection of the sprinkler system.
The City Government required Ayala to conduct a hydro test, tension test of broken rods, megger test, flood testing of deck, plumbing test, fire detection alarm system, structural integrity and rehabilitation plan to find out if all safety features are functional.