“Makikipagtulungan po kami sa fact-finding task force na binuo po ng ating mayo. Sa ganoon po ay iyon pong dapat pong managot ay malalaman po namin.” This was the statement made by Atty. Willie Rivera, legal counsel of property owner Ernest Jackson Lim.
The statement was made during a press conference held at the Angeles City Hall, adding that the owner of the collapsed building at Barangay Balibago assured full cooperation with the Office of the City Mayor, which formed a fact-finding committee to look into the incident.
According to Rivera, they plan to conduct a parallel probe into the matter in support of the local government’s effort. The legal counsel also said that his client is committed to help the victims and their families.
“Sa lahat po ng naapektuhan, hindi po kami tatalikod at sasagutin po namin lahat ng dapat pong sagutin upang maibsan po iyong kalungkutan at perwisyo pong natamo sa trahedyang ito,” he said.
The legal counsel of project contractor Golden Years Construction and Steelworks likewise promised that his client will provide assistance to everyone affected by the incident.
“Si contractor, tutulong talaga siya… [sa] lahat ng naapektuhan… tutulong naman si contractor,” said Atty. Nicolai Manguerra.
He even clarified that his client is not hiding. In fact, he said, company representatives went to the site few hours after the incident to coordinate with the victims.
He added that his client was in the vicinity at the time but opted to not show up on-site for fear of being mobbed since emotions were running high following the building’s collapse.
Manguerra also said his client’s engineer affirmed that appropriate materials were used in the project. He further said that his client was able to provide all the necessary requirements for the construction of the building.
“Definitely, iyon ang una kong tanong, ‘Engineer, tinipid ba ito? Absolutely, hindi,’ sabi nya. Hindi niya titipirin ito. If he was able to say one thing na for sure, at this point in time, hindi niya tinipid ito.”
“So far, sabi ng client ko saken, lahat ng hiningi sa kanila, all the requirements requested bago sila mag-operate… hindi naman kami papayagan mag-construct kung hindi pa kumpleto,” Manguerra added.
Meanwhile, the 22nd victim was successfully extricated by responders following sustained search, rescue, and retrieval operations in Quadrant 2 of the collapsed building.
