GINGOGG City ― This city’s councilor Robert de Lara will summon the contractor, the city has commissioned to repair the roof of the Sangguniang Panlungsod building, to the Committee on Infrastructure in its next session.
De Lara, who chairs the committee, said in a phone interview this morning, February 22, he will also invite representatives for the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFB) and other concerned departments of the city government.
The summon stemmed from the city council’s experience here Monday morning when the building was suddenly engulfed in heavy smoke two hours before the council held its regular session.
De Lara also urged Mayor Erick G. Cañosa to conduct a separate investigation to shed light on the incident.
Council Secretary lawyer Maria Theresa Mortiz-Arao reported the incident to the councilors during their regular session presided over by de Lara as acting presiding officer. It was learned that City Vice Mayor Thaddeus Lugod is in Manila to attend the conference of the League of Vice Mayors of the Philippines.
In her report, Mortiz-Arao said they discovered heavy smoke inside the session hall at about 9 am, Monday. She said she immediately call the BFP and the city’s Electrical Engineering Office to investigate the incident.
In a phone interview, SFO2 Andrew Gatasi, head of the BFP’s Fire Intelligence and Investigation Division, said they found that the electrical wiring of the ceiling of the session hall short-circuited and that the ballast of the fluorescent bulb sparked, as a result.
It was also found out that a portion of the ceiling had a substantial amount of water due to continuous rain where the electrical wiring is located which was the reason for the short circuit, Gatasi explained.
Gatasi said it was fortunate that an SP staff was quick to turn off the main switch of the building.
“Maayo nalang pud kay adlawan nahitabo. Pero kung gabii pa dilikado kay bisan gamay ra nga pag spark sa electrical wire. Maka ignite gihapon kini ug kalayo labi na gyud basa ang wire ug basa ang ballast,” he said.
Mortiz-Arao said the SP building was constructed in 2003 and was completed in 2005.
The repair of its roofing was finished in 2021 with a contract amount of P1,970,000 million, she added.
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