Factory fire victims sue DILG, DOLE, BFP execs

Protesters display a placard bearing their appeal in front of the Office of the Ombudsman in Quezon City. GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE

Survivors and the families of those killed in the Kentex factory fire filed charges on Monday in the Office of the Ombudsman against Interior Secretary Mar Roxas, Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz, Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) director Chief Supt. Ariel Barayuga and other officials for their alleged role in the May 13 incident which left 72 workers dead.

The criminal and administrative charges were filed on behalf of the Justice for Kentex Workers Alliance—a group composed of around 50 members—by its lawyer Remigio Saladero.

“We think they (government officials) are liable. The DOLE (Department of Labor and Employment) issued a certificate of compliance stating Kentex followed occupational health and safety standards when it did not. Meanwhile, the BFP was remiss in reporting that [Kentex] did not comply with its regulations,” Saladero said.

Also included in the complaint were DOLE-National Capital Region (NCR) director Alex Avila, DOLE-NCR labor law compliance officer Joseph Vedasto, BFP-NCR director Senior Supt. Sergio Malupeng

Soriano Jr., Valenzuela fire marshal Supt. Mel Jose Lagan and Valenzuela City fire safety enforcement section chief Ed Groover Oculam.

In the group’s complaint, the officials were charged criminally with negligence resulting in multiple homicide and physical injuries, and administratively with misfeasance of duties and neglect in the performance of functions.

In their letter addressed to Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales, the complainants pointed out Kentex’s blatant violations of occupational and fire standards, such as the lack of fire exits and alarms inside its factory, unsafe placement of combustible chemicals and the windows which were covered with steel grills and steel matting.

“This tragedy would not have happened if Kentex was not given a certificate of compliance,” one of the complainants, Kentex driver Danny Atacador, 39, said in an interview.

He described the factory as resembling a “prison.” He blamed the steel matting placed over the windows as the primary reason why those killed, among them his live-in partner Violeta Yamido, were trapped inside the building.

“If the [Ombudsman] grants our plea, it’s the first step in attaining justice for our loved ones,” Atacador said, noting that Yamido left behind two children.

“We who lost our jobs and loved ones also need financial compensation,” Atacador added. He said that despite the dismal work conditions and low pay at the factory which ranged from P202 to P402 a day, he and Yamido had soldered on because “we needed to work for a living.”

Another survivor, Michael Lazarte, 33, a cutter at the factory, said he was still too “traumatized” to find another job.

“How can we work in other factories now? The mere sight of smoke frightens us,” Lazarte told the Inquirer.

Lazarte, who lost close friends in the fire, said: “I may not have been able to save them but through this [case], I am fighting for them.”