The Philippine Economic Zone Authority (Peza) threatened to go to court if the Department of Justice (DOJ) would insist on putting the responsibility of implementing the fire code in Peza economic zones under the Bureau of Fire Protection.
Peza Director General Charito B. Plaza said that Peza filed a motion for reconsideration early last week in a bid to keep the status quo after Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II issued a legal opinion that said only BFP had the power and authority to enforce the Revised Fire Code of the Philippines of 2008.
Aguirre’s legal opinion, issued on June 6, reversed the 2014 legal opinion of former Justice Secretary and now detained Sen. Leila de Lima that said Peza could implement the fire code in its economic zones.
“We filed directly to DOJ our motion for reconsideration last June 13. In case DOJ will not consider our motion for reconsideration, Peza can still go to court for a court interpretation and ruling. Peza recognizes the intent of the Fire Code of the Philippines [to put BFP] as the administrator on fire safety but the law did not speak of exclusivity,” Plaza told the Inquirer in a text message.
Plaza was referring to section 5 of the Fire Code, which said the BFP could enter into a memorandum of agreement with public or private institutions to define areas of cooperation and delineate responsibility on various matters, including fire safety, prevention and suppression.
She added that, in accordance to the Peza law, Peza should have the authority to issue the necessary permits, including those on fire safety and inspection.
The controversy began in the aftermath of the arson and attempted robbery in Resorts World Manila that led to the deaths of more than 30 people, provoking Aguirre to partly lay the blame on De Lima for her 2014 legal opinion.
This is in spite the fact that the casino operations in RWM, where the incident occurred, is not a Peza-registered economic zone. Only the three hotels attached to RWM—namely the Remington, Mariott, and Maxim hotels—are under Peza as tourism facilities, said Plaza.
“The BFP is handling all business and commercial fire safety inspection and issuance of permits and their specialization is more of fire suppression and is known to sell their own safety equipment and devices to their clients hence, possible corruption is feared and suspected,” she said.
Plaza is concerned with how the legal opinion, once enacted, would add another layer of red tape, especially since BFP would now be in charge of the annual inspection of over 3,000 Peza-registered companies, also known as locators.