FIVE-HOUR BLAZE The Gaisano Grand Mall, Antique province’s first mall at the capital town of San Jose, went up in flames on Thursday afternoon, raging for five hours before it was placed under control. —PHOTO COURTESY OF STEPHEN LOUIE CHECA
ILOILO CITY — Around 400 workers of the Gaisano Grand Mall in Antique province risk losing their jobs after a massive fire gobbled significant portions of its lone mall on Thursday night.
Antique Gov. Rhodora Cadiao on Friday declared said the capitol would need to shell out P2 million in cash and rice assistance to the dislocated workers as she appealed to the mall’s management to absorb the workers in other branches until the mall can operate again.
The fire broke out at the mall along Barangay 8 in the capital town of San Jose shortly before 5:30 p.m. and was put under control more than five hours later at 10:56 p.m.
“The fire is still continuing but with no danger of spreading. We estimate that we could declare a ‘fire out’ by Monday. We are praying for heavy rain,” Senior Supt. Jerry Candido, Western Visayas fire marshal, told the Inquirer in a telephone interview on Friday.
No injuries were reported but residents near the mall had to evacuate at the height of the fire due to the heat and thick smoke.
Economic impact
Candido said they were still investigating the extent of the damage and the cause of the fire, considered the biggest to hit Antique province in recent memory.
The fire is suspected to have originated at the ladies’ wear department at the second floor of the two-story building before quickly spreading.
Firefighters, including those who came from neighboring provinces of Iloilo and Aklan, had difficulty penetrating the building because of extreme heat, according to Candido.
The Gaisano Grand Mall is the first shopping mall of the province and considered a landmark for many Antiqueños.It is still unclear when and if the mall will resume operation considering the extent of the damage.
Cadiao said that aside from the shopping mall’s workers, businesses at the mall that were already reeling from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic were also affected.
The provincial government will provide P5,000 cash assistance, as well as rice, to each of the workers affected.
Residents have also started donating rice and cash for the affected employees. —NESTOR P. BURGOS JR. INQ