BY RAYMOND AFRICA

A MIXTURE of methane gas and diesel vapor caused the explosion at the Glorietta 2 mall in Makati City last October, a multi-agency investigating task force yesterday said in its final report on the blast.

Fifteen persons, including officers of the Makati fire station, were recommended charged in connection with the explosion that killed 11 persons and injured 108 others.

Ayala Land Inc. (ALI), which owns the Glorietta malls, "will not be charged at the moment unless there is additional evidence gathered," according to Interior Secretary Ronaldo Puno.

ALI said it is ready to go to court to prove its contention that it was not a gas explosion.

"We believe there was no methane or diesel fume produced, and no pressure or gas compression was created to generate the kind of explosion that actually happened," the company said in a statement.

It said "diligence and due care" was exercised in the maintenance of the Glorietta 2 mall’s basement where the explosion apparently took place.

"It will be the courts that will be the final arbiter on the admissibility of such evidence and whether or not negligence led to the tragic events of October 19," it added.

Making public the final report on the blast, Southern Police District director Chief Supt. Luizo Ticman ruled out with finality any other cause, including terrorist bombing.

"The generation and accumulation of gas became possible due to the negligence of personnel tasked to maintain the facilities in the basement. The explosion and the resultant damages proximately caused by the negligence of the personnel," said Ticman, head of the task force, in the presentation of the final report.

Based on the investigation conducted by the task force, Ticman said the water pump and ventilation at the mall’s basement had not been working properly as early as June last year.

He said the poor ventilation at the basement contributed to the accumulation of gases which were ignited by an alternate water pump whose switch was in the "on" position.

Ticman said the task force concluded the explosion was not caused by a bomb because "no bomb parts or components of an explosive device were found at the scene, the absence of a crater at the seat of the explosion, no tearing effect on the damages, no soot or blackening of affected areas, no explosive residue in the skin or clothing of the victims and affected areas."

Ticman said there were actually two explosions, the first at 1:31 p.m. and the second a minute and 45 seconds later.

"The methane explosion caused the sudden rise in temperature and build-up of pressure in the basement, causing the diesel fuel to reach its flash point and allow the build-up of diesel vapor," he said.

"Since the accumulation of diesel vapor inside the tank reached its explosive range, the second explosion – the diesel vapor explosion – occurred."

The diesel tank at the basement serves as a fuel provider to a generator set. It had 5,600 liters at that time, occupying about 40 percent of the tank.

Since the basement’s water pump was broken, the Ayala Land Inc., which manages the building, and the Makati Supermarket Corporation, which owns the building, had to replace the broken one.

FOUL ODOR

Prior to the explosion, Ticman said witnesses noticed foul odor coming from the basement.

Elmer Giganto, leader of leader of personnel from the Paramount services firm which is tasked with maintenance in other parts of the building, and Felipe Paje, also of Paramount, noticed that basement was six inches flooded and had no proper ventilation at that time.

Cristine Calope, a sales clerk of Robee stickers at the Glorietta 2 mall, noticed that on October 17 or two days before the explosion, the comfort room had been emitting foul odor.

Peter Parcell, a visiting Australian businessman, said the place was "overpowered by a very strong gas smell" and he had difficulty breathing while in the comfort room.

RECKLESS IMPRUDENCE

Four engineers were recommended by the task force to be charged with reckless imprudence resulting in multiple homicide, physical injuries and damage to property. They are Candelario Valdueza, assistant on projects, Office of the President of the Makati Supermarket Corp. (MSC); Marcelo T. Botenes, building engineer of MSC-Glorietta 2 of Ayala Property Management Corp.; Jowell Velvez, building administrator of MSC-G2 of Ayala Property Management Corp; and Arnel Gonzales, building manager of Glorietta Mall which includes MSC-G2 of Ayala Property Management Corp.

Ticman said the four will be charged for their failure to:

• Make inspections reasonably necessary to ascertain the condition of its building, the basement in particular.

• Maintain and inspect the basement of MSC building in a manner that its agents and employees failed to take adequate safety practices and standards that resulted in the accumulation of biogas (methane/hydrogen sulfide) in the basement of said building.

• Take action upon receiving report/notice of foul odor coming from the basement.

• Use reasonable and ordinary care under the circumstances.

• Comply with the safety standards set forth by law.

NEGLIGENCE

Five personnel of Marchem Industrial Sales and Services Inc., which is responsible for the building’s maintenance, are to be charged with reckless imprudence/negligence (gross negligence) resulting in multiple homicide, physical injuries and damage to property.

They are Clifford Arriola, operations manager; Joselito Buenaventura, supervisor; and maintenance personnel Charlie Nepomuceno, Jonathan Ibuna and Juan Ricafort.

Ticman said they will be charged with negligence and carelessness in failing to maintain and inspect the basement of the MSC building that resulted in the defective condition of the pumps, leading to the accumulation of biogas in the basement.

They will also be sued for negligence to use explosion-proof electric control cabinets, switch gears, and lighting fixtures in the basement, aside from altering the standard electrical safety devices at the basement, like using an improvised wire jumper in lieu of a protective fuse.

Ticman said the Bureau of Fire Protection and the task force would file a separate case for violation of the Fire Code against them.

Also to be charged are Ricardo Cruz, operations manager, and Miguel Velasco, foreman, both of Metalline Enterprises which was responsible for the basement’s ventilation.

NEGLECT OF DUTY

Charges of gross neglect of duty causing undue injury will be filed against three officers of the Makati City Fire Station. They are Senior fire safety inspectors Fire Officer 4 Anthony Grey and SFO2 Leonilo Balais, and Senior Insp. Reynaldo Enoc, fire prevention officer.

Chief Insp. Jose Embang, Makati City fire marshal, will be administratively charged for simple neglect of duty for failure to review and validate fire safety inspection certificates being issued by his office.

Embang said the fire safety certification they issued was applicable only to the tenants and their stalls and not to the whole building.

"They (the investigators) don’t know the process and applicability of the fire safety certification. Besides, certification is applicable only to fires and not explosions," he said.

FINDINGS CORROBORATED

Ticman said the task force’s finding that the explosion was caused by gasses was corroborated by investigators from the Australian Federal Police and the US Federal Bureau of Investigation.

The same results were also arrived at by Chief Supt. (ret.) David Nevo, a retired Israeli police officer now connected with Coral Integrated Security System.

Ticman said the three foreign experts arrived at the finding that "a fuel-air mixture explosion occurred which originated from the basement… most likely that it was a gas explosion."

Puno said the findings of two foreign experts commissioned by Ayala Land Inc. would not stand in the way of the PNP findings and would be better used as a defense in court.

"We really don’t care about the Ayala investigation. That is their opinion. We accepted that and made that a part of our input. But we can ignore it if we wanted to because this is a criminal investigation," Puno said.

Ticman said the foreign expert commissioned by ALI did not even have the chance to visit the blast site.

ON RDX TRACES

Ticman said the traces of RDX (research and development explosives) gathered from swabbings after the blast were not that significant to conclude there was a bombing.

He said the RDX traces were a result of contamination of the crime scene by the first responders.

Ayala Land spokesman Alfonso Reyes said maintenance personnel cleared the sump pit at the mall’s basement twice a day and all the pumps were operational at the time of the explosion.

He also said the basement had proper ventilation at the time, and maintenance workers contracted to do some work in the facility could attest to that.

As to the lack of evidence that explosives caused the blast, Reyes said there was "positive identification" made by a Malaysian forensic expert who found traces of RDX and other chemicals found in explosives.

"The investigation was conducted by a forensic consultant from Forensic Services, a highly regarded forensic investigating body in the region that has already conducted more than 600 probes on similar incidents," Reyes said.

SWABBING

Reyes said the forensic expert conducted "swabbing" in the mall’s basement and found traces of RDX.

"The finding was validated by a laboratory examination in the United States and we believed in the result of the examination," he said.

He refused to name the laboratory saying the company would present the finding in court.

A team of police bomb experts that initially examined the mall’s blast site reported the recovery of RDX residue. However, the police said the recovery cannot be used to conclude that a bomb caused the explosion at the mall.

ALI has hired several foreign experts, including a British who disproved the gas build-up scenario.

The experts said there could have been no accumulation of gases in the mall’s basement because the septic tank was functioning well at the time.

Reyes said the company would now wait for the PNP to turn over to it the blast site so it complete its probe.

It expressed disappointment that authorities did not consider the pieces of evidence it gave.

COURT SCRUTINY

Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay said he hopes the findings "would hurdle public skepticism and the scrutiny of the courts."

"The PNP needs to convince a highly skeptical public and the courts that their gas theory is credible," he said noting the PNP has revised its "initial findings" several times, first claiming it was caused by a bomb, then later saying it was triggered by either LPG, diesel, or methane.

"The PNP stuck to the gas leak theory even in the face of contrary findings from experts from the academe and the industry. But when Malacañang has already made a public statement that this explosion was caused by a gas leak, we cannot really expect the subordinates to say otherwise," he said. – With Ashzel Hachero