The Market Monitor Minding the Nation's Business
By Riza Lozada
Hinting of a possible high-level anomaly in the two-day factory fire that hit House Technology Inc. (HTI) at the Cavite Export Zone (CEZ), Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello said the Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) will investigate a possible “wrongdoing” in the local governance level.
The fire that hit the Japanese-owned HTI factory, which employs 15,000 workers and mainly exports Tsunami-proof housing units, injured 100 workers and caused billions of pesos of damages.
Most of the injured workers suffered serious burns that affected 90 percent of their bodies, according to medical reports. Bello refused to further divulge information about the “wrongdoing” he found but he hinted that it happened in the past administration at the DoLE.
“Hindi ko panahon yon (it happened not during my watch)”, he said. He said agencies under the DoLE, the Bureau of Working Standards, and the Occupational Safety and Hazards Agency, will lead the fact-finding probe into the incident.
Bello said he will visit the factory and will look into the condition of the workers who were displaced as a result of the incident. Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) Director General Charito Plaza said she called a meeting among officials of PEZA, CEZ, HTI and the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) to “forestall similar event in the future and for PEZA to a dvise all its locator companies on enhanced safety measures” to be implemented.
In a related development, Kabataan Partylist issued statement calling for the justice for the victims of the HTI fire incidence. “Kabataan Partylist is one with the Filipino workers in calling for justice for the victims of the fire that broke out in House Technology Industry (HTI) factory in the Cavite Economic Zone on Thursday.”
According to labor group Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU) and other various sources, more than 104 workers were injured in the incident, while unconfirmed reports suggest a number of deaths, and hundreds remain missing while trapped in the complex.
As of last Saturday, firefighters were still clearing the HTI in Cavite of remaining sources of heat that could re-kindle the fire after declaring a fire out, Interior and Local Government Secretary Ismael Sueno said.
The factory, located at the Cavite Export Processing Zone, caught fire on Wednesday and injured at least 126 factory workers. Sueno said while PEZA is in charge of fire inspection and fire prevention in ecozones, it still collaborates with the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) during actual fire incidents within the ecozone.
The BFP is under the interior department. “We see no issue if ecozones have their own firefighting forces because this only goes to show that they are responsible enough to take charge of enforcing fire safety measures within their areas,” he said.