Comelec douses talk of sabotage in ‘Palacio’ fire

A midday fire on Saturday hit portions of Palacio Del Gobernador, a building in Intramuros, Manila, that houses the head office of the Commission on Elections (Comelec), the Bureau of Treasury and the Intramuros Administration.

The cause was yet to be determined by the Manila fire department, but initial reports said the 20-minute blaze mainly affected the sixth floor, which is occupied by the treasury bureau.

Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez dispelled speculations that it was an attempt to sabotage the poll body, which uses the fifth, seventh, eighth and parts of the ground floor. The fire took place three weeks before the Oct. 28 barangay elections.

“Any concern of that nature is unfounded,” Jimenez said, noting that the noontime fire was immediately put out. “So far there has been no report of damage to Comelec property. [Our] personnel are currently verifying that no damage has been sustained by the Commission.”

“What we need to secure is the seventh floor where our server is located (as well as) our computers used for various purposes like printing the voters’ IDs,” Jimenez said. Tina G. Santos