Valenzuela City Mayor Rexlon Gatchalian. MARC JAYSON CAYABYAB/INQUIRER.net FILE PHOTO
The Sandiganbayan has affirmed its dismissal of the graft and reckless imprudence charges filed against Valenzuela Mayor Rexlon Gatchalian and two others in connection with the May 2015 Kentex Manufacturing Corp. slipper factory fire.
In an eight-page resolution dated June 8, the court’s Second Division denied the Office of the Ombudsman’s appeal regarding its Dec. 13 resolution, finding no probable cause for Gatchalian’s indictment.
Also cleared were Business Permits and Licensing Office (BPLO) officer in charge Renchi May Padayao and licensing officer Eduardo Carreon.
The court said the prosecution’s Jan. 3 motion for reconsideration merely rehashed its original arguments.
It maintained that the city officials should not be faulted for issuing business permits to Kentex even without a fire safety inspection certificate (FSIC).
According to the Sandiganbayan, this was allowed by City Ordinance No. 62, which had been deemed valid by the Valenzuela City Regional Trial Court Branch 171.
“The records do not show that the accused acted with manifest partiality, evident bad faith or gross inexcusable negligence. The accused merely followed the existing memorandum circulars and ordinances on the streamlined procedure for the issuance of business permits,” the resolution read.
Other pertinent rules include Joint Memorandum Circular No. 1 which allows local government units to issue “temporary” permits pending compliance with other requirements and the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) Operational Procedures Manual which provides for permit applications to be forwarded for fire safety inspections “only after the business permits are issued.”
Wrong party
The antigraft court added that BFP officials, and not the city officials, were the ones primarily tasked to implement the provisions of the Fire Code.
“Therefore, it is the BFP, not the accused, who is primarily responsible for the implementation of the FSIC and has the obligation to inform local government officials of the compliance or any violation of the establishments,” it said.
It pointed out that without any adverse notice from the BFP, the city’s BPLO would have “no basis to cancel or withdraw the [business] permit already issued.”
The court also reiterated that a reckless imprudence case would not prosper because the issuance of the business permit was not the “proximate cause” of the fire. It pointed again to the welding repairs that sparked nearby combustible chemicals as the direct cause of the tragedy.
Graft and reckless imprudence charges are still pending against city fire marshal Mel Jose Lagan and senior fire inspector Edgrover Oculam. But in February, they asked the court to drop the charges against them because they hold a salary grade of 25, putting them outside the Sandiganbayan’s jurisdiction. The court handles cases of officials with a salary grade of 27 and above.
The May 13, 2015 fire left 74 people, mostly factory workers, dead and many others injured.