Firms fined over Apas construction mishap

CEBU, Philippines —  The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) in Central Visayas has imposed a fine of P100,000 on the owner and contractor involved in the construction project mishap that killed one and injured another one in Barangay Apas, Cebu City.

The CLI and the PLD Construction Development, Inc., the project developer and contractor, respectively, of the collapsed condominium building, are ordered to pay the said fine.

The incident last Saturday resulted in the death of Romeo Maniwan, while Abel Bautista suffered injuries. Both are workers of the construction project.

Maniwan and Bautista were reportedly both trying to finish the rebars which served as the footing of the Tower 4 building at the construction site when the excavated area suddenly caved in.

PLD Construction, in a statement, said it already settled the P100,000 penalty imposed by DOLE.

“We share their concern for the plight of our workers who rely on their daily income from our present project. We fervently hope that we can resume operations soon,” the statement read.

PLD assured that they will continue to comply with the policies and requirements of DOLE-7 and the Office of the Building Office.

DOLE-7 Regional Director Salome Siaton, in a statement, said the P100,000 fine will be on top of the financial assistance that the developer and contractor willingly offered to the victims and their families during the mandatory conference held at the regional office early this week.

“They also willingly extended financial assistance to the family of the late Romeo G. Maniwan amounting to P22,000  and groceries worth more than P14,000. Despite what happened, we appreciated it that the respondents committed to shoulder the hospital expenses of Bautista and the funeral expenses for Maniwan,” she said.

DOLE called the respondents, CLI and PLD, to a mandatory conference last Monday, May 24, after the work stoppage order was served at the project site on the same day.

Siaton said the companies cannot resume their excavation works unless they submit a comprehensive excavation plan, job hazard analysis, and signature for the soil protection design to the department.

“Since the excavated area was already five meters deep, there should have been some soil protection installed. Upon the conduct of our Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) investigation at the site, our inspectors found out that their excavation methodology was not properly implemented,” she said.

She said the stoppage order will only be lifted once they show proof of corrections at the project site in compliance with the Health and Safety Standards.

DOLE tri-city field office director Emmanuel Ferrer said CLI and PLD need to submit a letter requesting for the resumption of work on the affected area.

He said soil protection must be installed to avoid the same incident from happening again.

“This is, of course, provided that all corrections to the violations observed have been put in place,” he said.

While the work stoppage order is in effect, the companies will pay their employees all the monetary benefits that they are entitled to for the duration of the stoppage order.

Also, DOLE warned all companies to follow and comply with the OSH standards or risk facing penalties. — KQD (FREEMAN)