The remaining accused in the Kentex fire case before the Sandiganbayan Second Division have been acquitted of their graft and Reckless Imprudence Resulting in Multiple Homicide and Multiple Physical Injuries charges.

On May 13, 2015, a fire razed the premises of Kentex and claimed the lives of its 74 employees. Several individuals were held liable because of the fire, ranging from Valenzuela City officials and officials from the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP).

They are Valenzuela Mayor Rex Gatchalian, Business Permits Licensing Office (BPLO) Officer-in-Charge Renchi May Mecina Padayao, Licensing Officer IV Eduardo Carreon, Kentex Manufacturing Corporation General Manager and Treasurer Ong King Guan, also known as Terence King Ong, then Valenzuela City Fire Marshal Mel Jose Paredes Lagan, Fire Inspector Edgrover Lim Oculam, and Senior Fire Officer 2 Rolando Santiago Avendan.

Gatchalian, Padayao, and Carreon were slapped with violations of Section 3(e) and (j) of R.A. 3019, the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, as well as Reckless Imprudence Resulting in Multiple Homicide and Multiple Physical Injuries. However, they were cleared last year of all charges.

Ong was charged with both graft and Reckless Imprudence, while Lagan, Oculam, and Avendan were included in the Reckless Imprudence charge. In a decision promulgated on September 22, they were cleared of all charges as well.

Lagan, Oculam, and Avendan were accused of being negligent, careless, and imprudent when they approved the business permit of Kentex. When they failed to impose the prescribed sanctions under Section 9 of the Revised Fire Code of the Philippines of 2008, they abandoned the necessary precautionary measures designed to protect lives and property.

The prosecution said Kentex was therefore allowed to operate under hazardous conditions. Because of the fire, actual damages amounting to P3.7 million was caused to the victims.

During the trial, the anti-graft court said that the proximate cause of the fire incident was the ignition of the Supercell Blowing Agent during the welding or cutting job being done by the employees of Ace Shutter Corporation.

While there may have been omission on the part of the accused BFP Valenzuela officers in failing to observe the procedure laid down by the Fire Code, the court said this was not the proximate cause of the fire incident.

"In the instant case, the Court finds that the accused did not commit an excusable lack of precaution in the exercise of their duties considering that they conducted inspections at the Kentex premises and noted several deficiencies, issued a Notice to Comply on the deficiencies, conducted a verification inspection of Kentex's compliance, and again noted several violations in the After Inspection Report," the decision read.

"With regard to the alleged reckless imprudence of accused Ong as a private individual who supposedly conspired with the accused BFP Valenzuela officials, suffice it to state that the prosecution failed to prove its allegation of conspiracy among the accused," it added.

Other than the prosecution's bare assertion that the accused conspired with one another, the court found that the prosecution failed to prove that there was a conscious criminal design to commit the offenses charged.

While the Court commiserates with the families of the victims of the Kentex fire, it said in its decision that it has to yield to the constitutional right of the accused to be presumed innocent.

"Be that as it may, the acquittal of the accused in these cases does not preclude a suit to enforce the civil liability springing from quasi-delict under Article 2176 of the New Civil Code," the decision added.

The 60-page decision was written by Associate Justice Michael Frederick Musngi with the concurrence of Second Division Chairperson Oscar Herrera Jr. and Associate Justice Bayani Jacinto.