At least P22 million worth of property was destroyed when a fire of still unknown origin struck the University of the East campus along Claro M. Recto Avenue in Manila Saturday morning.
Mayor Joseph Estrada said the fire, which razed the UE College of Arts and Science, Engineering Building and the chapel, started around 9:50 a.m. and reached the 8th highest alarm level before being put under control by firemen.
The fire happened a day after the University of the Philippines was hit also by a huge blaze destroying research materials and important documents and valuables belonging to faculty members.
Estrada said no one among the UE employees was hurt but a fireman sustained minor injury.
In a statement posted on the social media, the UE school administration said “The fire that hit the University of the East’s Manila Campus in the morning of April 2, 2016, is under control. Two college buildings [College of Arts and Sciences and College of Engineering] and the Chapel were affected. No one was hurt.
“The cause of the fire is still under investigation. The estimated damage to property is still being determined. UE Manila, as well as the other UE campuses, are on heightened security alert to ensure the safety of everyone in the UE community.”
“In light of this, UE Manila (the University’s main campus on C. M. Recto Avenue), will be closed to students and visitors on Monday, April 4, 2016. All other UE campuses (UE Caloocan, UERMMMCI and the UE Annex Building) will be open. We will post a new advisory on Monday as to when UE Manila would reopen. Thank you.”
While the UE administration said there are no firm estimates on how much damage was caused, fire authorities said the damaged property costs P22 million.
To avert similar occurrences in the future, Estr ada called on city officials, community leaders and business establishment owners and operators to strengthen efforts and beef up their preparedness for untoward incidents.
“The essence of disaster and crisis management is planning what to do, and how to execute these actions, even without knowing when all these preparations will be necessary,” he said.
Although UE is a privately-owned establishment, the city government of Manila is paying keen attention to the incident and its circumstances.
“Our office, together with the Bureau of Fire Protection, closely monitored the incident. The BFP will be the one to look into the incident. If there’s violations committed by the UE management in terms of the precautions in ensuring safety in their establishment, we will recommend to Mayor Estrada to make necessary actions,” said Manila Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office chief Johnny Yu.
