Ombudsman orders probe into DPWH fire

Could the fire yesterday at a Department of Public Works and Highways office in Quezon City be a case of arson?

- ELIZABETH MARCELO

This is what Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla intends to find out, as he asked the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) to look into the matter.

"I asked the NBI to go there. I also asked my brother to have the BFP look at the arson angle, so that we can know if there was an attempt at cover-up," Remulla said in Filipino, referring to his brother Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla, during an interview with The STAR’s "Truth on the Line" yesterday.

The BFP is under the supervision of the Department of the Interior and Local Government.

The fire hit the DPWH-Bureau of Research and Standards (BRS) building located along NIA Road in Barangay Pinyahan, Quezon City past noon yesterday. The fire reached the third alarm before it was declared under control at 1:34 p.m.

The incident happened amid ongoing investigations on infrastructure projects, including the alleged ghost and substandard flood control projects implemented by the DPWH.

Remulla gave assurance that the documents needed by the ombudsman in connection with the ongoing investigation were not affected by the fire.

"At least the documents that we need (or) that we have to study were not stored there in the Quezon City office," Remulla said.

Suspicious links?

As it turns out, the DPWHBRS building that burned used to be the office of the ex-wife of sacked Bulacan assistant district engineer Brice Ericson Hernandez-engineer Mel Clarisse Santo Domingo, before she abruptly resigned from the agency last Sept. 22.

Santo Domingo's last post at the DPWH was director of the DPWH BRS Technical Services Division. She had just been appointed to the key post last Aug. 11.