CA affirms guilty verdict vs QC exec in 2001 hotel fire

MANILA, Philippines - The Court of Appeals has junked the motion for reconsideration filed by a Quezon City official who was dismissal from the service in connection with the tragic Manor Hotel fire incident in 2001. In a four-page resolution, the court affirmed the July 26, 2004 ruling of the Office of the Ombudsman finding Rafael Galvez, the chief of the QC Business Permits and License Office, guilty of gross negligence for allowing the hotel to operate without the necessary permit and despite violations of the Building and Fire Code. The CA did not give credence to Galvez’s that he was denied due process when the Office of the Ombudsman dismissed him based on the inspection report of the city’s fire department. The CA said Galvez was given enough opportunity to dispute the evidence presented against him, and noted that the official had even filed a motion for reconsideration contesting the existence of the report. “What is clear is that petitioner failed to perform his complementary duty to ascertain that business establishments applying for renewal of business permits comply with the building fire codes,” the CA ruling said. The resolution was penned by Associate Justice Rosmari D. Carandang of the CA’s Special Former Third Division. Based on the findings off the Ombudsman’s Fact Finding and Intelligence Bureau (FFIB), the hotel was operating without a business permit when the fire struck on August 18, 2001. It said the permit expired June 30, 2001. At least 71 people were killed in the said fire. The investigation also showed that Galvez approved the renewal of Manor’s permit in 1999 despite receipt of the inspection report issued by the QC Fire Department. - GMANews.TV