DAVAO CITY”•Mayor Sara Duterte told the City Building Official on Monday to answer the charges that the Interagency Anti-Arson Task Force will file against them following the NCCC fire that claimed 38 lives two days before Christmas last year.
“We cannot do anything about it if it is the result of their investigation. The named individuals will have to answer the charges against them,” Duterte said.
The mayor said she already instructed the City Administrator to wait for the result of the investigation and follow what the Task Force will recommend.
“We did not intervene with the investigation of the Task Force to make their recommendations impartial,” she said.
“I have instructed the City Administrator to just follow the recommendation; we did not create our own investigating team since they will be investigating their own office. It’s better that we just follow the recommendations of the Task Force,” Duterte added.
The IATF will charge the CBO of violating Republic Act 3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act following the result of their investigation.
The Philippine Economic Zone Authority will also face charges of violating RA 3019, while the NCCC Mall, Survey Sampling International (SSI), and Rockfort Construction, the commissioned construction firm of NCCC, will face charges of imprudence and negligence under Article 365 of the Revised Penal Code.
As soon as Local Government Acting Secretary Eduardo Aá¹…o signed the recommendation as head of the IATF, the recommendation will be submitted to the Department of Justice for the filing of complaints.
Last Dec. 23, a fire engulfed the entire NCCC building, claiming the lives of 37 call center agents of SSI and an employee of the mall.