Mayor Belmonte goes after fire culprits

The Manor Hotel fire that killed 73 people and injured 50 others is one of the worst fires to hit the country in many decades. The real tragedy there is not the fire itself but the fact that the casualties could have been avoided if the owners of the Manor Hotel had abided by the building and fire codes and the Quezon City authorities had enforced said codes.

As it is, from all reports, Manor Hotel seemed to have been designed as a fire trap. First, there were inadequate or no exits whatsoever. Second, the windows even in the floors above were grilled. The owner’s explanation is that the windows had iron bars because someone once attempted to commit suicide by jumping out of the hotel window!

It is a fact that the Philippines is the most disaster-prone nation in the world. But that refers to natural disasters. The Philippines is certain to undergo several typhoons every year. We have many volcanoes and we are in an earthquake-prone area. But the fires in urban areas are not caused by nature. They are caused by man and are preventable.

According to Q.C. Mayor Feliciano Belmonte, Manor Hotel’s license to operate expired last June 30 and the owners had not even bothered to renew their license. Why did the officers-in-charge not check if Manor Hotel was continuing its operation?

Clearly there was laxity, to say the least, on the people in-charge of permits and licenses in the Quezon City Hall. To say the worst, it may be a matter of graft and corruption and not just laxity. The important thing now is to see if there are other establishments in Quezon City that are potential fire traps. First, there was the Ozone Disco, now Manor Hotel. Will there be a third fire? That can certainly be avoided if the authorities implement our building and fire codes.

It was disheartening to see the bodies of all the Manor Hotel fire victims exposed side by side waiting to be identified by some relative or friend. We must do everything to prevent another such disaster. Prevention is always more potent than cure.