BFP given 24 hours to end probe on Baclaran mall fire

Interior Secretary Ronaldo Puno on Monday gave the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) 48 hours to find out the cause of the fire that gutted the Galleria Baclaran shopping mall for two days last week and other incidents related to the incident. Puno said BFP Officer-in-charge Chief Superintendent Enrique Linsangan is directed to particularly look into the following: 1) allegations of extortion against the BFP; 2) cooperation between the BFP and private firefighting groups; 3) access to water supply in the area ; and, 4) compliance with fire safety regulations by stall owners and management of the mall. "You have 48 hours to report on these four areas of your investigation… I want names, not mere anecdotes, to back up the results of your investigation," Puno told Linsangan. "Find out if there are also BFP officers or men involved, I don't care what rank. The BFP should be the first one to file charges against them because they are destroying the good name of the bureau," he added. The allegation of extortion against government firefighters, however, has initially been refuted already by claims of at least two stall owners, who pointed to bystanders as those who tried to solicit money from them in exchange for protecting their stalls from the fire. The bystanders allegedly used the name of the BFP. As to the cooperation of the BFP and private firefighting groups, Puno tasked Undersecretary for Public Safety Marius Corpus to conduct a simultaneous dialogue with the latter in order to come up with guidelines and standard operating procedures on how they can assist the BFP during emergency situations. "Let me point out that we value the assistance and contributions of private firefighters…We need their help. But we need to come up with standard operating procedures or a set of protocols to improve the existing cooperation that we have with them and determine how they can best assist the BFP during fires," Puno said. Puno said a team was already ordered to also look into the alleged refusal of an official of the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CPP) for responding firemen to use the fire hydrant within the CPP complex. If true, the CPP official could be held responsible for violating Article 151 of the Revise Penal code and Section 41.108 of the Implementing Rules and Regulations of the Fire Code of the Philippines. "I want cases filed against those responsible for the fire and the delays and obstacles that the BFP had encountered in putting out the fire," Puno said. With regard to the stall owners and mall management, Puno said another team will also look into their possible negligence by disregarding fire safety regulations. The fire at Galleria Baclaran began early Thursday morning last week and was only put out on Friday afternoon, or over 24 hours later. There were no casualties reported, although the damages left were worth millions of pesos. - GMANews.TV