PAGCOR: No ruling preventing employees to leave posts during emergencies

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation on Monday denied allegations that it prohibited its employees to leave their posts during emergency cases.

 

PAGCOR officials Carmelita Valdez and Jimmy Bondoc made the clarification after the agency received criticisms for the deaths of five of its employees who died during the fire at the Waterfront Manila Pavilion Hotel and Casino in United Nations, Manila.

 

“There is no such mandate from PAGCOR ordering employees to prioritize money before their lives because this is how the situation appeared to be,” Bondoc, assistant vice president for entertainment said in a press briefing. During the fire, some employees allegedly prioritized securing the treasury first before their safety.

 

The PAGCOR officials said it was the employees who decided to stay and secure the government’s properties.

 

Valdez, PAGCOR's assistant vice president for corporate communications, cited that the employees were asked to leave their rooms immediately after the fire was reported but they were not aware that the blaze was already big.

 

Bondoc also said that the employees just practiced “heroic passion.” He added that they secured the treasury in the vault without knowing how big the flames already was outside.

 

“That's not because they were trading off their life for the money. That's not true. They just did their duty because that’s how they were trained,” Bondoc said in Filipino.

 

“It was their choice,” he added.

 

According to the Bureau of Fire Protection, the fire that razed the hotel-casino on Sunday morning started from the ground floor to the seventh floor. However, the cause of the blaze is still under investigation.

 

The BFP declared fire out at around 10:56 a.m., over 24 hours after it started.