Fire hits the Manila Central Post Office in Manila (Noy Morcso / INQUIRER.net
MANILA, Philippines — Forty-two lawmakers from the Arts, Culture, and Creative Industries Bloc of the House of Representatives are calling for a probe into the fire that gutted the Manila Central Post Office.
House Resolution 1019, introduced by Pangasinan 4th district Rep. Christopher de Venecia, urged the lower chamber of Congress to conduct a “thorough investigation in aid of legislation on the recent fire incident at the Manila Central Post Office.
De Venecia said the probe seeks to see how the government can maximize efforts to protect heritage sites.
“It took about 30 hours to declare fire out. Apparently, this may have been a disaster waiting to happen. We will certainly take a close look to ascertain the real timeline of events from during the fire and the building maintenance and security logs,” de Venecia also said.
De Venecia also wants the Bureau of Fire Protection and the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) to identify old buildings without fire suppression systems.
“Later on, we also want to know from the Bureau of Fire Protection and the GSIS, which ensures government property, to identify the old buildings of the government have no fire suppression systems, especially the [historical] ones, including the National Museum, the Cultural Center of the Philippines, the National Library, and the University of the Philippines,” the Pangasinan representative said.