Duterte on Davao city NCCC Mall blaze: Truth must come out

MANILA, Philippines — The truth about the Davao City mall fire will come out, President Duterte said, as he assured families of the victims that the incident would be investigated thoroughly.

Duterte said an interagency body has been formed to investigate the New City Commercial Center (NCCC) mall fire, which killed 37 business process outsourcing (BPO) employees of Research Now and Survey Sampling International (SSI) that occupied the entire fourth floor of the mall.

Investigators from the National Bureau of Investigation, Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) and Philippine National Police will take charge of the probe.

The BFP promised to determine the cause of the fire.

“What I assured them is that the truth will – let the truth come out… what really happened,” the President told reporters after a private meeting with the victims’ relatives yesterday at the Southern Philippines Medical
 Center in Davao City. 

He also reiterated his promise to provide financial help to the bereaved families and to assist them in recovering the bodies of their loved ones. 

“Maybe the compensation and the expenses were (shouldered). But I committed that the government is willing to chip in,” the President said. 

It was the second time Duterte met with the families of those who died in the fire. He was the one who informed them that those trapped in the mall had zero chances of surviving hours after the fire broke out. 

“Of course, it was a crisis last night. And I consider it lucky because I was around to commiserate with the people there,” Duterte said. 

The President said his daughter, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte, could not relay the bad news. 

“I was the one who broke the news to them. Because Inday begged off. She said, ‘Hindi ko kaya, pa (I cannot do it, dad),’” he said.

Duterte also offered words of consolation to the kin of the victims and advised them to pray “because there’s really no sense in overdoing things.”

“I stressed to them that at this time, death to me is a spiritual journey. So nobody can deal with it… No amount of kind words, consoling words,” he said. “It is always a spiritual journey between the mother, father, brother, sister.”

He also suggested that the bodies be cremated because their coffins cannot be opened during the wake because they were burned beyond recognition. 

BFP-Davao director Wilberto Tiu said the rescue team found the remains of the victims in different positions, and they immediately turned the bodies over to the Scene of the Crime Operatives.

Tiu said while fire out has been declared, there are still debris and flammables inside the mall that need to be cleared.

Labor groups: Ban BPOs in malls

Meanwhile, the Associated Labor Unions (ALU) yesterday called for the banning of BPO operations inside shopping malls.

ALU spokesman Alan Tanjusay said there is a current trend for BPO firms to rent working spaces in shopping malls to save cost and increase profit, but call centers must have a separate building for the protection of workers.

ALU asked the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) to order the immediate transfer of all call centers to a separate, independent building to prevent similar catastrophic incident.

“Call centers as working areas must be removed from malls. Call centers should have their own separate and independent building designed for human beings working on 24-hour work operation,” Tanjusay said in a statement.

“Call center employees are not commodities and goods that can be consigned in a warehouse converted as work area,” he added. – Mayen Jaymalin