2 firms tagged in collapsed wall ordered shut down

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) issued a cease and desist order (CD) to stop operations of the contractor of a warehouse that collapsed in Guiguinto, Bulacan last Monday and killed 12 people, including a 14-year-old laborer.

DOLE investigators have found that Hoclim Co Construction Corp., the firm that built the warehouse, was operating without a permit and had employed child workers.

According to Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz, one of the workers who died in the accident was Edmond Bernabe, 14.

Baldoz said the probers also found that the company does not have an approved Construction Safety and Health Program (CSHP).

“The DOLE Regional Office No. 3 has completed its accident investigation at the construction site and it has issued a cease-and-desist order against the construction company,” she noted.

The CD will stay until the presence of imminent danger is removed and the company has complied with all the requirements of the findings of the investigation, including the submission of a Revised Work Procedure for Vertical Construction and the conduct of Safety Education for Construction Safety Regulations.

Based on the findings of the DOLE investigating team, Hoclim and its principal, Number One Golden Dragon Realty Corp., “have no response team, no supervising personnel such as engineers, safety officers and the like, who were in charge of construction work.”

The investigation showed the firms violated Republic Act 9231 or An Act Providing for the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labor and Affording Stronger Protection for the Working Child by employing a child laborer in hazardous work like construction.

If found liable, they could face a fine of not less than P100,000 but not more than P1 million, or imprisonment of not less than 12 years and one day to 20 years, or both fine and imprisonment.

The department’s panel is composed of Labor Laws Compliance Officers Angelito Longos Jr. and Ritche Templanza, and Labor and Employment Officers Restituto Espino, Jomel Yabut and Eloiza Muli.

DOLE Regional Office director Ana Dione reported that both companies have not appeared to accept their obligations.

She added the two firms should be held jointly responsible for all the violations related to the health, safety and the welfare of the victims.

Dione said Guiguinto municipal engineer Arcadio Leover Sulit had assured the victims that the company will shoulder all the expenses of the families of the dead and the injured workers involved in the accident.

Baldoz has instructed Dione to make the two firms accountable for all the monetary and social benefits due the workers, including underpayment of salaries, unpaid salaries, remittance of all social security benefits and other monetary claims if found liable.

She also directed Alex Avila of DOLE National Capital Region to locate the principal and the contractor’s offices in Quezon City and to subject them to immediate complaint assessment of their compliance with labor laws and occupational safety and health standards.

The labor chief had criticized the firms for taking for granted the health and safety of their workers.

Baldoz had warned them against “taking advantage of the circumstances and seeming helplessness of the victims’ families by shortchanging them of their salaries and other benefits due them.”

She said the families of the victims – both dead and injured – may claim employee compensation benefits with DOLE’s Employee Compensation Commission (ECC) even if they are not enrolled with the Social Security System (SSS), “but without prejudice to the latter’s filing of cases to enforce compliance with their obligations.”

“As long as there is an employee-employer relationship, a worker can file a compensation claim with any SSS branch under the Employees Compensation Program,” she added.

“Based on the ocular inspection at the accident site conducted by our team, they found out that it was the right side wall of the ongoing warehouse construction that collapsed right above the quarters of the workers. It is approximately 7 meters high and 20 meters wide. It happened during their lunch break,” Dione said.

She recalled that it took eight hours to retrieve the victims because the construction firms had no response team to take immediate action following an accident.

The probers noted that the type of concrete mixture for the columns and beams does not meet specifications and backfilling was not properly observed to stabilize the movement of the concrete wall structure. There was also no proper evaluation of the soil-bearing capacity. – With Ding Cervantes