DAVAO CITY – The Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) on Thursday has estimated the damage of the New City Commercial Center (NCCC) fire at P1.6 billion, the highest loss due to fire in Davao City this year.
However, the cause of the fire has yet to be determined given the two versions that the fire started from the ceiling and the other from the floor of the appliance and furniture section on the third floor of the NCCC Mall.
BFP Davao Fire Marshall Supt. Fritz Alagano said the cause of the fire will be one of the issues that will be investigated by the Task Force created to investigate the fire incident. The other issues are the failure of the water sprinklers and the alarm.
SSI (Survey Sampling International) has its own emergency alarm, Alagano told reporters during the AFP-PNP Press Corps at the Royal Mandaya Hotel.
Alagano said she has already submitted all reports to the BFP national which is part of the task force also composed of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG), the National Bureau of Investigation, Philippine National Police, Scene of the Crime Operatives, and the city government. DILG is the lead agency.
The members of the task force were scheduled to arrive Thursday to start the investigation.
A third-party investigator is also expected that will be recommended by the families of the victims but professional fees will be covered by the city government.
Impartiality questioned
Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio has asked for the inclusion of the city government in order for city authorities to have access to information in the investigation.
Duterte-Carpio said the city government will be represented by Central 911 for rescue operation issues and the City Engineer’s Office for questions on NCCC building plans.
But the mayor’s impartiality has been questioned.
In a statement, the mayor said there is even a suggestion that she should inhibit from the investigation of the NCCC mall fire because of an endorsement contract.
“For the record, I am not part of the investigation team. I have never presented myself to investigate the mall fire and under normal circumstances, a City Mayor does not sign fire investigation reports of the BFP,” Duterte-Carpio said.
She clarified that she is not an endorser of the NCCC mall, but “I have a commitment with Choice Mart, which is another company of NCCC supermarket.”
“Nobody can question how I did my work as Mayor in helping the family of the victims, the BFP, the NCCC, and SSI officials,” the mayor quipped.
Duterte-Carpio pointed out that the staff and the City Social Services and Development Office (CSSDO) handled everything during the evening of December 23 to the present prevented chaos and hysteria among the victims and Dabawenyos in general.
“Siguro isa ito sa mga pagkakataon na maghahanap talaga ng butas ang mga tao para lang meron masabi na may masama akong ginagawa (Maybe this is the time that people will really find fault just to say I have done something wrong),” the mayor said in a press statement released by the City Information Office on Thursday.
Duterte-Carpio stressed she never said, “I am investigating the fire incident and I welcome any investigation on how I did my work in this particular matter.”
Search suspended
Meanwhile, Alagano said she has temporarily suspended the search and rescue operation for one missing call center agent of the SSI after an explosion was heard that shook the burnt NCCC mall at around 9:45 a.m Thursday.
The burned structure poses a danger to search and rescue teams considering that it has become unstable, said Alagano.
Fire rescue teams have yet to account one missing person. There is still one body that has to be identified from the list of 38 victims.
On Wednesday, Duterte-Carpio said there are two unaccounted persons namely Mikko Demafeliz and Alexandra Moreno, both call center agents of SSI.
The mayor said that of the 37 bodies retrieved on Monday, there is only one body remaining for identification through DNA. The body is either of Moreno and Demafeliz, whose family already agreed to a DNA.
Duterte-Carpio issued the clarification in light of the confusing number of retrieved bodies to the latest list of victims released by City Hall.
The BFP rescue teams retrieved a total of 37 bodies. The latest list has 36 identified bodies and one for identification and one still missing.
The new list already included Melvin Ga-a, an employee of the New City Commercial Center (NCCC). His body was among those 37 retrieved by BFP rescuers at the stairwell of the SSI at the fourth floor.
Duterte-Carpio surmised that Ga-a, who was a trained member of the NCCC Emergency Action Team (NEAT), ran to the fourth floor to rescue trapped call center agents but they all failed to come out of the building. He was also among those earlier identified.
NCCC mall management confirmed Ga-a's death.
In a released statement, NCCC mall spokesperson Thea Padua said Ga-a saved many victims - an estimated 700 NCCC mall personnel and visitors.
Ga-a helped bring down SSI employees and tried to rescue the remaining SSI employees.
"Melvin had already brought down several SSI employees and was already seen having safely exited at the ground floor. But instead of remaining downstairs, he went upstairs again to try to save more people," Padua said.
An investigator from the Scene of the Crime Operatives (SOCO) said the IDs found on the body of the call center agents helped in their identification. Ga-a was identified by the family.
Meanwhile, Dr. Danilo Ledesma of the City Health Office (CHO) bared that the victims died of asphyxia due to suffocation. (Lilian C. Mellejor/PNA)
