Owner, contractor charged for warehouse wall collapse

MANILA, Philippines - The owner and contractor of the Quezon City warehouse whose wall collapsed on May 19, killing two people, were charged with violating the Building Code on Monday.

The police also filed charges of reckless imprudence resulting in homicide against Liong Gan Kua, owner of L.G. Atkimson Import-Export Inc., and engineer Leonardo Pasia.

However, on Tuesday, lawyers for the company told police they had settled with the families of Norma Tominio and Robin Leuterio, who were killed when the wall collapsed, and the families would no longer pursue the criminal cases.

The first case to be filed was the one lodged by the Department of Building Official of the Quezon City government on May 21 before the city prosecutor’s office.

Local Building Official Isagani Verzosa Jr. said Liong and Pasia committed violations of the National Building Code of the Philippines.

Based on the findings of engineers under Verzosa’s office, while it was true that a building permit was issued for the construction within the compound, it was only for one of the five lots within the compound. Particularly, only “Lot 18” had a building permit.

“After a thorough investigation, it reveals that the construction activity undertaken on lots 17, 19, 20, and 21 were made by simply placing concrete hollow blocks on an existing old structure which did not have a structurally stable foundation, particularly the subject perimeter wall, which collapsed,” the complaint stated.