Building collapse bad for nearby businesses
ANGELES CITY—Beyond the deaths and missing construction workers, nearby businesses near the collapsed nine-story building in Barangay Balibago here are now grappling with damaged properties, suspended operations and mounting financial losses.
Several businesses along Teodoro Street—among the city’s busiest entertainment and tourism strips lined with hotels, bars, KTVs and small establishments—have shut down following the incident, citing safety risks, structural damage and restricted access as authorities continue retrieval and clearing operations.
Tragedy struck early Sunday, when the nine-story building under construction gave way, trapping dozens of workers beneath concrete slabs, steel bars and scaffolding.
Authorities continued search, rescue and retrieval operations on Wednesday, with assessments by experts already saying they no longer detected any sign of life beneath the rubble.
“[But] we have never lost hope [of still finding survivors] although we would not want also to give false hope,” said Fire Supt. Maria Leah Sajili, public information officer of the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) in Central Luzon.
At least five fatalities have been confirmed, while several others remain unaccounted for as clearing operations continue.
Among the businesses facing uncertainties now is Walkins Hotel, which had only begun operating last month and announced the temporary suspension of operations after portions of its property sustained “massive damage,” leaving employees without work as retrieval operations continue beside their damaged establishment.
“We poured all our savings into it. It’s heartbreaking that this is what happened,” hotel owner Grace Lego, 33, told the Inquirer in a phone interview.
Lego, with her husband and their 5-year-old daughter, was inside the newly opened hotel when the nearby structure collapsed around 2:30 a.m. on Sunday.
At the time of the incident, five rooms in their hotel were occupied by guests—including two Malaysian nationals, one of whom, 65-year-old Mohd Rezal Bin Abdullah, was among the fatalities.
Lego recalled initially thinking an earthquake had struck after feeling the ground violently shake.
“I woke up and immediately reached for my eyeglasses because it was completely dark. The power had already gone out,” Lego recalled.
She said debris, shattered glass and collapsing walls immediately filled portions of the hotel as they rushed to escape.
“When we came out into the lobby, we saw the ceiling hanging down, the glass doors and walls were shattered, and the lights had fallen. When we went out of the hotel, we saw our vehicle which was hit by debris—metal and cement had fallen on it,” Lego said.
Her family managed to escape along with other hotel occupants despite blocked pathways caused by fallen electrical posts, live wires and debris.
‘Horrific sound’
Reign Spa owner Marie Grace Catap Hornick, 44, slept inside her establishment for the first time in six years on Saturday night after a power outage at their home in Porac, Pampanga.
At 2:29 a.m. Sunday, she said they were awakened by what she described as a “horrific sound” that initially felt like an earthquake.
“The front of the spa is made of glass windows and glass doors. We were in the lobby when we heard the loud noise.,” Hornick said in a separate interview.
She said her first instinct was not to immediately open the door, fearing the glass panels may have already cracked amid the collapse.
“We checked first if it was still passable because we could still hear falling cement, debris, posts and live wires outside,” she said. Hornick recalled shouting for help while carefully trying to get out of the establishment.
Although the spa itself was not crushed by the collapsed structure, she said portions of the property sustained damage, including shattered sliding windows, a tilted air-conditioning unit and damage to her pickup vehicle parked outside the establishment.
Like many nearby business owners, Hornick said the temporary closure of operations has also placed financial pressure on both her business and employees.
Reign Spa employs nine regular workers and four part-time staff.
Assistance
“I’m thinking about my employees because this has been going on for several days. They also need income, and we also need to resume operations as soon as possible,” she said.
Hornick estimated the spa was losing around P25,000 in gross sales daily due to the closure.
Despite the losses, she said her greater concern remained with the construction workers and families directly affected by the collapse.
“Many were affected. I hope those responsible will be held accountable,” Hornick said, referring to those behind the construction project. “The one who was lost may have been the provider of the family. The wives and children are the ones who will suffer.”
Social Welfare Secretary Rex Gatchalian, who visited the site this week, said his department had begun distributing aid for survivors, victims and their families.
But authorities have yet to announce possible financial assistance or recovery measures for nearby establishments affected by the collapse.
