After Years of Waiting -- 9 Convicted in Ozone Disco Fire

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MANILA -- The anti-graft court convicted nine people for graft Thursday over a 1996 nightclub fire that killed 162 people, mostly students celebrating the end of the school year.
Convicted by the Sandiganbayan fifth division were seven former city engineering officials of Quezon City and two operators of the Ozone disco.

The former officials were city engineers Alfredo Macapugay and Renato Rivera Jr., building inspector Edgardo Reyes, enforcement and inspection division chief Francisco Itliong; processing division head Feliciano Sagana, engineer Petronillo De Llamas and building inspector Rolando Ma Maid.Hermilo Ocampo, president of Westwood Entertainment, the company that operated the disco, and Ramon Ng, Westwood's treasurer, were also convicted.

The nine were handed out sentences of up to 10 years.
About 400 people were packed in the disco when the fire broke out, but many were unable to escape because the emergency exit was blocked by a new building next door. Ninety-three others were injured in the blaze, one of the biggest nightclub fires in the world in the last 20 years.



The court disqualified the former city officials from ever holding public office for approving the nightclub's building permit despite non-compliance with the building code and giving preferential treatment to the disco's operators.

"There can never be a slapdash approval of a building permit and certificate of occupancy. To shrink from this duty will certainly run at risk all safety standards contemplated by the National Building Code," the court said.
Stephen Santos, president of a group of the fire survivors, welcomed the court decision but lamented that the verdict took 18 years, in an interview with local television network ANC.

He said he was afraid some of those convicted may have already left the country.
Trials in the Philippines normally take many years to conclude, with courts burdened by a huge backlog of cases. Supreme Court Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno said last month reforms are being instituted and more judges are being hired.
Two of the nine, Ocampo and Ng, had been convicted in 2001 by another court for separate crimes of reckless imprudence resulting in multiple homicides, sentencing them to four years in jail and fined P25 million each ($555,000).

Macapugay, whose office was mandated to ensure the enforcement of building safety regulations, was acquitted of criminal charges by the Sandiganbayan third division in 2007 as the court was unconvinced on his culpability.
The third division ruled then that state prosecutors have failed to prove that Macapugay was guilty of reckless imprudence resulting to multiple homicide and multiple physical injuries for alleged negligence in verifying the safety of the plans and facilities of the entertainment disco bar.

The Ozone Disco Fire was officially tagged as the worst fire in Philippine History, and the world's worst nightclub fire since the 1997 Beverly Hills Club Fire in Southgate, Kentucky.


(AP/John Carlo Cahinhinan/Sunnex)
Source: ANC / Sunstar / GMA Network

[Graffitivoir]

Dugay kaayo ang due process sa atoa, 9 years?, pero sige na lang at least justice is served.

[john41]

Dugay kaayo ang due process sa atoa, 9 years?, pero sige na lang at least justice is served.

18 years boss..

[digitalsuperman]

dafuq! 18 years! 18 years!

[MeMing]

mao bitaw ni saligan sa mga abosadong tao ug negosyo, dili mamayad ug utang kay magsalig sila ang kaso diri samot na dili criminal aw tag 20 ka to-ig mahuman.

ang ilang utang nga 1M after 20 years aw sinsilyo nalang.

its more fun in the philippines gihapon (basta dili lang ikaw ang ma-agrabyado!)

[MaInEvEnT]

dugaya gyud tuod pero at least nahuman jud.. naa daghan kaso, malimtan nlng nato sa ka dugay... tsk2x

[Echelnalf]

Illegal logging paman akong buLbitz aning panghitabo-a. May naLang ra jud akong ma suLti ani.

[sercor::jhumzki]

susmaryusep!

[Ghadz]

murag wala gyod malipay ang mgaa kaliwat sa mga biktima ani,tiaw mo kataas sa panahon nila pinaabot.

[jntio]

^ murag ana gyud mahulog sa limot