Interior Secretary Mar Roxas: Getting to the bottom. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines—The investigation into the liability of the developer of Two Serendra for the May 31 blast that killed three persons may take longer than expected as President Aquino wants the findings to be “conclusive” and “without question,” Interior Secretary Mar Roxas said Thursday.
Roxas told reporters in Malacañang the President had ordered the interagency committee tasked to investigate the blast in Bonifacio Global City (BGC) in Taguig to get to the bottom of the incident based on “very credible evidence” and via a “fact-based” approach.
“That’s why we’re very careful because whatever we say will have legal implications. And this will have a big impact, so… there should be no loopholes (in) the government findings,” said Roxas.
The secretary said the President did not want the investigation of the Serendra blast to go the way of the explosion at Glorietta 2 in Makati in 2007 that killed 11 people and injured more than a hundred.
“Until now, the cause of the Glorietta blast is still a question mark, isn’t it? Here, there should be no question mark—that’s the President’s instruction,” said Roxas.
Roxas said the Serendra investigation was not just based on conjecture, with the crime operatives working closely with the departments of science and technology, health, energy and public works.
“This is new, so we need the expertise (of several departments),” he said, stressing that Serendra’s was the “first piped-in gas system” in the country.
No evidence has surfaced to controvert last week’s finding that the blast was caused by a leak in the pipeline supplying liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) to Unit 501.
The tenant of Unit 501, Angelito San Juan, has yet to talk to investigators.
Roxas said the “principal witness” was sedated and “under intubation” in the intensive care unit of St. Luke’s Medical Center after 72 percent of his body suffered second-degree burns.
However, Roxas maintained that the government was not yet prepared to say if BGC, or the developer, Ayala Land Inc., could be held liable for the explosion.
He said the interagency committee was investigating “the fittings, meters, piping control to establish what really happened.”
“It’s possible the detection device—like a smoke alarm—did not work,” he said.
Other angles being looked at are the “failure” of either the meter of the gas pipeline system, the installation, detection device, automatic shutoff mechanism or the “failure [to detect the leak by] maintenance people,” he said.
The developer and condo owners at Serendra met Thursday to discuss the safety measures being undertaken by the authorities, including a thorough double check of gas-fittings, gas pipings and gas sensors and detection devices.
In a forum with the Bonifacio Global City Estate Association (BGCEA) at the Mind Museum in Taguig City on Thursday, Roxas said all users of the BGC centralized gas line are mandated to conduct “self-checks” “to ensure the safety of the equipment that are presently being used.”
The inspections will begin as soon as guidelines are released sometime next week and regular checkups of the gas line and users will be standard from then on, Roxas said.