Mayor wins administrative case over Kentex blaze

MANILA, Philippines - The Court of Appeals (CA) has cleared Valenzuela Mayor Rex Gatchalian of administrative charges against him in connection with the Kentex footwear factory fire that left 74 people dead in May 2015.

In a 23-page decision released yesterday, the CA’s 15th Division reversed the Office of the Ombudsman’s February 2016 resolution ordering Gatchalian’s dismissal after finding him guilty of grave misconduct and grave neglect of duty.

The duty to enforce the Fire Code belongs to the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) and not with the local government unit, read the ruling penned by Associate Justice Leoncia Real-Dimagiba.

The BFP-Valenzuela issued a notice asking Kentex to address Fire Code violations but failed to furnish a copy to the BFP and the city government, the CA said.

The CA said Gatchalian was not aware of Kentex’s violations when he issued the business permit in January 2015 even without a fire safety inspection certificate.

Associate Justices Ramon Garcia and Jhosep Lopez concurred in this ruling.

The criminal charges against Gatchalian were earlier dismissed by the Sandiganbayan.