The owner and the contractor of a building which collapsed along Teodoro Street in Barangay Balibago on May 24, 2026 were “not fully cooperative", a fact-finding task force claimed.
Lawyer Noel Luzung, Task Force Chairperson and City Administrator, said the building owner and contractor initially appeared before the committee but were later represented by their legal counsels during the investigation.
“When we ask them to present their technical people involved, like their structural engineering, we invited them several times. Hindi sila pumunta, pinapunta lang nila yung kanilang mga lawyers,” Luzung said.
He added that the committee also requested additional documents but the parties failed to submit them.
“Kaya hindi namin masasabing fully cooperative sila,” Luzung said.
Lawyer Darwin Reyes, special adviser to the committee, said the owner and contractor did submit documents during the fact-finding process, but their lawyers were the ones who maintained communication with the committee.
These statements came as the task force released its final conclusions on the May 24 collapse, which killed 30 people.
Based on the evidence gathered, including technical assessments, expert opinions, documentary records, site inspections and laboratory test results, the task force said it was “highly probable” that the main cause of the collapse was the overstressing of the structure’s columns and piles.
The task force said its structural analysis showed that the capacity of the columns and piles was exceeded, with their sizes, numbers and material properties insufficient to carry the loads.
The failure of these structural members resulted in a progressive collapse, it added.
The task force also found that the columns were designed to resist gravity loads only and should have considered lateral displacement in both directions.
Another contributing factor was the alteration and addition of structural frames and members during construction.
The task force said inspections after the collapse showed that additional steel beams and floor framing had been added, increasing the structure’s weight beyond what was considered in the original design.
Other construction methods and detailing errors also contributed to the collapse, according to the findings. |via Tristan Jingco
