Suit vs. Ayala firms in Serendra blast raffled

MANILA, Philippines  - The P30.2-million damage suit filed by the owner of The Two Serendra condominium unit in Taguig which was destroyed by a powerful explosion last May 31 against three Ayala firms will be heard at the Taguig City Regional Trial Court Branch 271 presided by Judge Paz Cortes.

Raymond Fortun, lawyer for unit owner Marianne Cayton said that following the raffling of the case, the court is expected to send out summons to the involved parties by next week to pave the way for the pre-trial of the case.

"Summons will be served next week. Then the defendants will file their answers," said Fortun.

Read: Ayala firms face P30-M damage suit for 'negligence'

The US-based Cayton filed her case on Monday at the Pasig City Hall of Justice against the condominium's developer, Alveo Land Corp.; Bonifacio Gas Corp., which supplies the liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) to the condominium; and the Makati Development Corp., construction arm of Ayala Land Inc.

The Pasig City Prosecutors Office received complaints for the courts of Taguig City.

According to Cayton's complaint, there was negligence in the use of substandard equipment for the condominium's gas piping system, which the complaint said explains why the gas leak was not immediately detected. The explosion at Cayton's unit 501-B killed four people.

Cayton was in the US when the blast occurred on the night of May 31, 2013. The occupant of the unit at the time, Angelito San Juan, a friend of Cayton, was injured and died at the St. Luke's Global hospital two months later.

The other fatalities were killed instantly when the closed-van they were riding in was crushed by a wall of the unit which was sent flying to the street by the explosion.

In her 24-page complaint, Cayton requested the court to order a replacement of her two-bedroom unit worth over P20 million.

The complainant also sought P5 million in moral damages, P5 million in exemplary damages, and P200,000 in attorney’s fees.

Cayton, in her complaint, also claim that the condominium's developer did not have a system in place to determine the chemical levels of the LPG tanks.

Last October, Hong Kong-based Kroll Advisory Solutions released a report following an investigation on the blast and cited negligence on the part of the owner and tenant of the unit where the explosion originated.
Fortun earlier refuted the findings which were revealed by Interior and Local Government Secretary Mar Roxas.

Fortun said gas meter readings from the unit showed that from February 22, 2013 to May 24, 2013, there was "very minimal consumption of gas between March 20 and April 25, and from April 25 all the way until after the workers renovating the unit had left."