Survivors of Pasay fire say employer locked them up, making escape difficult

A worker who dodged death in a fire that razed a residential building in Pasay City complained they were locked up by their employer, making it difficult to escape, a report on GMA’s “24-Oras” said Friday evening.

“Naka-lock ‘yung lahat ng pintuan doon. Tapos ‘yung maliit na lang na butas yung dinaanan namin,” Nicky Torres said. “Hindi nga kami makalabas kasi naka-lock ‘yung mga pinto doon.”

Another worker said they had to leap from the terrace of the building to a neighbor’s roof just to survive the fire.

“Wala na po akong choice ganoon na lang talaga kaya tumalon nalang ako. Na-trap yung iba doon,” Cherilyn Calum said.

But their employer Juanito Go, who is also the owner of the building, denied that he locked his workers up, which ultimately caused their deaths.

“Kung ikakandado ko, paano ako papasok? “Hindi [ko kinandado]. Wala [akong kinandado],” Go retorted.

Yet Willy Resureccion, a barangay councilor in the area, said they have received complaints about Go locking his workers up in the past.

“Siguro last year pa na may natanggap kaming reklamo na hindi daw sila pinapalabas, kinakandado [daw],” Resureccion said.

He also said they previously rescued a minor who worked for Go.

At least eight people believed to be stay-in workers died in the fire after the building, used as a DVD player warehouse, was razed before Friday dawn.

A separate report on GMA News TV’s “QRT” quoted the Bureau of Fire Protection in Pasay as saying the building did not have a fire inspection certificate and that the building should not have been used as a commercial building.

Damage to property was initially estimated at P1.2 million. — Andrei Medina/JDS, GMA News