Offices of the House of Representatives Electoral Tribunal were ordered closed starting Thursday while all employees were directed to work from home after the building housing them were declared ‘dangerous and ruinous’.
Kabayan Party-list Rep. Ron Salo, head of the House contingent to the HRET, said the decision to close down the building is not COVID-related but the result of findings made by the Quezon City Department of Building Official (QCDBO) on the structural integrity of the HRET building.
Structural engineers and inspectors of the QCDBO conducted an annual inspection of the building on December 10, 2020.
“During said inspection, several defects were noted on the building’s structure, prompting the Department of the Building Official to declare the building ‘dangerous and ruinous’ in accordance with Sec. 214 of the National Building Code,” disclosed Salo.
The HRET offices are housed in an old structure located at the Commission on Audit (COA) compound, adjacent to the Sandiganbayan and COA buildings.
“In light of the strong earthquake that rocked Masbate on August 18, 2020 and the recent seismologic activity at the Taal Volcano, the HRET, through its Chairman Justice Marvic Mario Victor F. Leonen, issued an Order directing the physical closure of the HRET offices starting August 20, 2020,” the party-list solon explained.
Meanwhile, the House of Representatives reported its 50th COVID case on Friday.
“We received a report that a congressional staff tested positive for COVID-19. She last went to HReP on August 11 and met with her officemates,” a statement issued by the Office of the Secretary General bared.