Ex-Butuan mayor faces raps for issuing permit to non-compliant establishment

The Office of the Ombudsman (File photo by NINO JESUS ORBETA / Philippine Daily Inquirer)

The Office of Ombudsman has ordered the filing of graft charges against former Butuan City Mayor Ferdinand Amante Jr. for issuing a business permit to a garments store that was later gutted by fire in a 2012 tragedy, which resulted in the death 17 workers for lack of fire safety requirements.

The establishment turned out to be a noncompliant in the fire safety code and lacked a fire safety inspection certificate (FSIC) prior to the fire.

The Ombudsman’s media bureau said on Thursday that there was probable cause to indict Amante, as well as former licensing officer Paul Cabrera and acting city fire marshal Alric Gomez, for one count of violation of Section 3(e) of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.

As for their administrative liabilities, Amante and Cabrera were meted out a lifetime ban from holding public office as they were found guilty of gross neglect of duty. They were also ordered to pay a fine equivalent to a year’s salary.

The Ombudsman resolution arose from the May 9, 2012 fire at the Novo Jeans and Shirts Enterprises along Montilla Boulevard, where mostly the female stay-in workers slept located at the top floor.

Investigation showed that Amante on Feb. 15, 2012, three months before the tragedy, issued a business permit to Novo upon Cabrera’s recommendation despite the lack of an FSIC.

The garments store was given a 30-day period to submit the necessary documents. But even as it failed to meet that deadline, the city still failed to shut down the establishment and revoke its business permit.

Meanwhile, the Ombudsman faulted Gomez for failing to notify Amante of Novo’s noncompliance with the fire safety requirements and recommend the cancellation of the business permit.

The Ombudsman cited Section 5(g) of the Fire Code of the Philippines, which required the inspection of a business establishment for fire safety compliance “every time” it applies for a business permit.

The anti-graft prosecutor previously indicted Valenzuela City Mayor Rexlon Gatchalian and other officials for the issuance of a business permit to Kentex Manufacturing Corp. also despite having no FSIC, before it burned down in a May 2015 incident that killed 74.

But, in the Kentex case, the Sandiganbayan dismissed the charges against the city officials because they were just following the letter of a local ordinance that streamlined the processing of business permits. /jpv

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