Probers seek criminal charges vs Tuguegarao mayor for hotel tragedy

TUGUEGARAO CITY —A fact-finding team led by the Department of Justice (DOJ) has recommended the filing of criminal and administrative charges against Tuguegarao City Mayor Delfin Ting, the University of La Salette, and six other officials for the deaths of 16 people, including ten Nursing examinees, in a hotel fire last December 19. The inter-agency team, composed of the Justice and Interior departments as well as the police, released their report on January 21 and said that Delfin had command responsibility for the tragic fire at the Bed and Breakfast hotel. Some of the hotel staff were recommended to be charged for allegedly turning a blind eye on the hotel's continued operation despite lacking the proper licenses and inspection. These were Ireneo Taguibao, business permit licensing office head; Emilio Matanguihan, city engineer and building official; Ruben Flores, electrical inspector and evaluator; and Leonida Badajos, records officer. Fire Chief Inspector Neil Caranguian, city fire marshal, and Senior Fire Officer 4 Paulino Camacam, chief fire arson investigator of the fire safety and enforcement section-Bureau of Fire Protection, were also called out for allegedly neglecting their duty to regularly inspect the building as mandated by the Fire Code of the Philippines. The University of La Salette officials may likewise face charges for failing to exercise due diligence when they decided to billet the Nursing examinees in the dilapidated hotel. Trader Pepito and Araceli Fondevilla, co-owners of the Bed and Breakfast pension house, may face charges for criminial negligence, reckless imprudence resulting to multiple homicide and physical injuries, and breaches to Fire Code and Philippine Electrical Code. The Interior Department had earlier filed separate criminal charges before the DOJ against Ting and four others for their part in the fire. — TJD, GMANews.TV