The Quezon City Police District has filed charges against four individuals over the fire that destroyed a house used as a t-shirt printing shop and killed 15 people in Tandang Sora on August 31.
According to a statement released by the Quezon City Public Information Office on Saturday, a complaint for reckless imprudence resulting in multiple homicide was filed against the surviving incorporators of MGC Warehouse, Inc., namely Catherine Sy, Lina Cavilte, Johanna Cavilte, and Geoffrey Cavilte.
QCPD Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit chief Police Major Don Don Llapitan and his operatives were able to gather statements from the families of the fire victims in Occidental Mindoro to support the complaint.
“We hope that through this development, justice will be served to the 15 individuals who perished during that unfortunate incident. We appreciate the effort of the Quezon City Police District for being committed to ferreting out the truth,” Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte said.
Belmonte also directed the City Legal Department to create a special panel of investigators to probe the incident and, if warranted by evidence, to file the appropriate case against pertinent and surviving officers of the business establishment involved in the deadly fire in Tandang Sora.
Local government personnel found to be liable after the conduct of the investigation will also face administrative and criminal charges, the statement said.
The fire began at 5:30 a.m. on August 31, which spread rapidly due to stockpiled textile and wooden construction materials on the second floor, according to the Bureau of Fire Protection.
The escape routes of the three-story building were reportedly blocked by parked vehicles, the BFP said.
The fire was put out at 8:04 a.m. —Jiselle Anne Casucian/VBL, GMA Integrated News
