IT'S been a year on December 23 since the gruesome fire razed the New City Commercial Center (NCCC) Mall Davao in Maa, Davao City.
The horrific incident caused all Dabawenyos to mourn especially since it was Christmas Eve the following day.
The tragedy until now left the families of the 38 victims, who were mostly call center agents, a big hole in their hearts.
The result of the investigation by the authorities revealed that the fire started at the office of a business process outsourcing (BPO) or call center and several Bureau of Fire (BFP)-Davao City personnel were charged and relieved in relation to the incident.
The incident became a wake-up call not only to the management of establishments but to all employees as well in responding to fire incidents.
Just last Friday, December 22, several numbers of BPOs failed in the simultaneous fire evacuation drill organized by the Davao City Fire District.
"Daghan ang nabagsak ug mahitabo nga di nato sila mahatagan og inspection certificate nga maoy usa sa ilang mga requirements sa pag-renew sa ilang mga business permit (Several have failed and we can't give them inspection certificate which is one of their requirements to renew their business permit)," Davao City Fire District Intelligence Investigation Division, chief Senior Fire Officer (SFO) 3 Ramil Gillado said.
At least 15 BPOs underwent the simultaneous fire evacuation drill Friday in time for the BFP inspection.
The BFP conducted the drill to prevent another similar tragedy from happening since the investigation also revealed that there was also negligence on the part of the NCCC management in conducting practice drills.
"Kay kung naa lang ta'y husto kaayo nga kaalam mahitungod sa fire drill kabalo ta kung asa moagi ug di ta magtanom ug panic sa atong kaugalingon (If we are knowledgeable with fire drill and where to go then we won't panic)," Gillado said.
Meanwhile, another fire incident happened last Friday at San Antonio, NHA in Buhangin, Davao City reportedly caused by electrical short circuit.
Based on investigation, octopus connection wherein an electrical outlet is plugged with many electrical wires caused the fire, razing three rooms of a house. However, nobody was injured during the fire.
Based on BFP records, fire incidents this year have gone down by 20 percent compared in 2017. This was attributed to public's awareness through BFP's continuous campaign on proper and safe way to use appliances and other electrical devices.
Its records also revealed that 90 percent of the recorded fire incidents are caused by electrical short circuit.
For the case updates, the Davao City Prosecutor's Office here dismissed on December 19 the charges on reckless imprudence filed by Interagency Anti-Arson Task Force (IAATF) against NCCC, Survey Sampling International (SSI), and an executive of the AC Rockport Construction and Development.
According to City Prosecutor Nestor Ledesma, the families of the 38 deceased persons submitted affidavit of desistance underscoring they are not interested to pursue the charges.
However, they still found charges on probable cause to charge five officials of the Bureau of Fire Protection-Davao and one official of the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) for violation of Republic Act 9514 or the Revised Fire Code of the Philippines of 2008 and violation of paragraph 4 Article 171 of the Revised Penal Code for falsification of public documents.
