Manila: More than a week after a fire gutted a factory in Valenzuela City, Philippines, concerned groups are demanding that labour officials be held responsible for the disaster that claimed the lives of nearly a hundred factory workers.
The chemical fire that hit a rubber footwear factory owned by Kentex Manufacturing Corp on May 13 left 72 confirmed deaths, with 20 other people missing and believed to be dead.
Church leaders and labour groups are demanding that government officials responsible for the firm’s oversight be held accountable for the tragedy.
The Department of Labour and Employment (DOLE) “should be held liable” for issuing an occupational health and safety standard compliance certificate to Kentex, Bishop Gerardo Alminaza of the Church people-Worker’s Solidarity said. The Church people-Worker’s Solidarity is a group that promotes the improvement of workers’ conditions.
“We call on all relevant government agencies, including the Valenzuela local government unit and the Bureau of Fire Protection, to deeply investigate the incident, including the compliance of the factory with existing safety standards,” he said.
“If violations are found, there must be accountability and criminal punishment for justice to be attained for the victims and their families,” Alminaza said.
The Kentex factory fire joins the list recent workplace disasters that claimed the lives of workers.
On May 9,2012, a fire that broke out at the Novo Jeans and Shorts factory in Southern Philippines’ in Butuan City killed 17 workers.
Less than two years after, in April 2014, eight workers of Asia Micro Tech electronics warehouse in suburban in Pasay City died in another fire incident.
With the Kentex factory fire included, all incidents show glaring similarities — deplorable working conditions in workplaces where fire emergency exits are non existent, below minimum wages and absence of necessary clearance certificates for workplace safety.
None of the employers or labour and fire safety officials have been charged in the Novo Jeans and Asia Tech fire, Alminaza said.
“We are deeply saddened that not a single capitalist has been judged guilty and jailed for the death of workers in the workplace,” he said.
The socialist labour group Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino (BMP) similarly called for accountability of officials involved in what is now considered as the country’s worst workplace disaster.
The group called for the immediate and irrevocable resignation of Labour Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz.
“While local officials of Valenzuela are guilty for negligence of duty and most probably corruption and collusion with the employer, Baldoz remains to be the prime culprit in the tragedy when she ordered and implemented outright anti-worker policies that principally contributed to the misery and the deaths of the workers at Kentex,” Leody de Guzman, chairman of BMP said.
The fire, was said to have been caused by a spark from a welding rod that fell near a cache of highly flammable materials used in the manufacture of rubber slippers.
The factory had been producing “Havana” slippers, an imitation of an internationally known brand of beach footwear.
