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CEBU CITY, Philippines ? The Cebu Provincial Police Office (CPPO) is still collecting evidence to determine if the construction company Metaphil could be held liable for the deaths of four workers last Saturday at a shipyard in the town of Balamban, western Cebu.
?We do not want to speculate. Police will still gather the statements of witnesses and (Metaphil) engineers,? said Senior Superintendent Carmelo Valmoria, director of the CPPO.
He said Balamban police officials were conducting site investigation at the shipyard owned by Tsuneishi Heavy Industries Cebu Inc. on Sunday to look into possible reasons of the collapse of a scaffolding, causing at least 10 people to fall 40 to 60 feet.
Apart from the four fatalities, at least six were injured.
The workers were standing on the scaffolding while constructing the roof ? particularly, the trusses ? of a large enclosure that was designed to house shipbuilding facilities.
Tsuneishi contracted Metaphil, a division of the Aboitiz Construction Group, to construct the structure.
?I talked to Balamban chief of police, Anthony Bagarinao, and he told me that they yet have to interview the witnesses,? Valmoria said.
He declined to release more information, saying it may jeopardize the investigation.
Leo Salubre, manager of the environmental assurance and factory support group of Tsuneishi, said many more deaths may have resulted if the safety measures were not in place.
While the cause of the collapse of the scaffolding had not yet been determined, Salubre said everyone who was standing on the scaffolding at that time were wearing safety harnesses.
?Any incidents can happen in our human endeavor but if not for safety and precautionary measures implemented, more deaths could have happened,? he said.
Salubri clarified that Tsuneishi would not directly help the victims and their families, but would instead assist Metaphil, the employer of the victims.
