ICI: No flood control files affected in DPWH office fire

The Independent Commission for Infrastructure (ICI) on Wednesday assured that there were no documents related to flood control projects affected in the fire that hit an office of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) in Quezon City.

“As per record now, the burning in Quezon City does not involve flood control projects,” ICI chairman Andres Reyes Jr. said during the hearing of the Senate Committee on Justice and Human Rights on Senate Bill No. 1215, which seeks to create an Independent People’s Commission (IPC). 

“But we have to secure all records of the COA (Commission on Audit) because… I know that there’s a tendency for criminals to burn down the office,” he added. 

An official from the Bureau of Research Standards (BRS) also assured that there were no sensitive documents affected by the fire. 

“Wala po kaming dokumento dito na tungkol doon sa mga projects under investigation. Dahil ang testing of materials nung mga proyektong ng district engineering offices at regional offices, sila ang nagko-conduct. Ako po ang magpapatunay na wala kaming dokumento na kaugnay doon sa mga iniimbestigahan,” said BRS director IV Juliana Vergara in Chino Gaston’s report in “24 Oras.”

(We do not have documents here regarding those projects under investigation. This is because the testing of materials for those projects is conducted by the district engineering offices and regional offices. I will attest that we do not have documents related to those projects being investigated.) 

A fire hit the DPWH’s Bureau of Research and Standards (BRS) building on NIA Road in Barangay Pinyahan, Quezon City earlier on Wednesday.

The Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) said the fire was reported at 12:39 p.m. It reached the third alarm at 12:56 p.m. and was eventually put out at 1:34 p.m.

The DPWH said the office is “responsible for the conduct of research, studies, pilot testing, and formulation of policies for government infrastructure projects.”

Meanwhile, the Office of the Ombudsman said that it “has directed the immediate coordination with the National Bureau of Investigation and the Bureau of Fire Protection to determine the cause of the fire and to establish whether arson or any deliberate act was committed.” — with a report from Vince Angelo Ferreras/JMA/RF, GMA Integrated News