Metro Manila (CNN Philippines) — Investigators of a huge fire in a Cavite factory said on Monday they were still validating the liability of the company in relation to the death of three of its employees.
The Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) said based on their preliminary probe, the lack of fire sprinklers and fire exits could have been the reason why the blaze was not immediately stopped from gutting the House Technology Industries (HTI) factory.
However, the BFP said they were still validating if HTI had negligence in its fire safety measures.
The fire, which raged from February 1 to 3, killed three team leaders and injured 126 HTI workers.
Likewise, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) said they still had to determine if they could make HTI liable for the incident.
HTI is under the Philippine Economic Zone Authority, and is independent from the jurisdiction of the local government.
This bars DOLE from imposing its occupational safety and health standards on the company.
Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III explained the department’s hold on the incident.
“Our department, for the reasons I cannot understand for the moment, waived our authority to inspect compliance with occupational safety and health standards,” he said.
Health crisis
As of writing, 24 victims were still confined in hospitals, and 16 were in danger of infection due to severe burns.
Cavite Gov. Boying Remulla lamented the inability of Divine Grace Medical Center to take care of the patients.
He said the hospital had no competent burn surgeon to treat the victims.
“Ang crisis ngayon is now a health crisis, ongoing because the hospital is not competent to handle the patients,” Remulla said.
He added the hospital management has been preventing the victims from being transferred to better-equipped hospitals.
The governor claimed the hospital only wanted to milk money from the victims’ families.
CNN Philippines is still trying to get an official statement from the management of Divine Grace Medical Center.
