City lawyer: Deviation from plan places firm in hot water

CEBU, Philippines - As far as the city legal office is concerned, there is sufficient basis to hold CYC Construction liable for violating the national building code following the death of five men working on a mall in barangay Tisa last week.

   But Cebu City legal officer Joseph Bernaldez said yesterday the admission of CYC Construction that they deviated from the building plans approved by the Office of the Building Official is already ground for sanction.

   He said, however, that he will keep his legal opinion on hold until the OBO and the technical team designated by Mayor Tomas Osmeña to investigate the incident would issue their respective reports.

   Five construction workers died while six others were injured when the firewall of Gaisano Capital collapsed.

   For her part, OBO acting head Josefa Ylanan said the report of CYC Construction has been endorsed to the technical team conducting the evaluation. It is in the report that CYC reportedly admitted deviating from the OBO-approved building plan.

   Building officials believe the deviations could be one of the reasons that the firewall collapsed. The city already suspended the construction of the two-storey building pending results of the investigation.

   Ylanan said that if the building would be found unstable, OBO will order its owner to demolish part of it or the entire structure.

   Among the issues the technical team is looking into are whether or not the materials used in the construction were substandard or the mixtures of the cement and sand was not in accordance with prescribed standards.

   It was reported that CYC alleged sped up the completion because the mall was scheduled to open on April 30 or May 1.

   Osmeña, for his part, said, he already received Ylanan’s request to hire for more technical personnel for OBO. The mayor said the request is now with consultant Rene Sanapo for evaluation and recommendation.

Ylanan earlier said the lack of personnel has contributed to their failure to inspect all ongoing constructions in the city to determine if they are complying with approved building plans.   (FREEMAN NEWS)