Rescue ops end at collapsed Angeles building
ANGELES CITY—Emergency crews officially shifted from rescue to retrieval operations on Tuesday at the collapsed nine-story building in Barangay Balibago here, but the families of those still missing refused to leave the site, holding on to hope.
For 30-year-old Bernadette Arogante, the agonizing wait has stretched into sleepless nights. Since Sunday when the tragedy struck, she chose to stay here with several family members instead of returning to work.
“We are just here, waiting,” she told the Inquirer as relatives gathered near the site for updates.
Her brother, Ferdinand Arogante, remains among those unaccounted for after the building, which was under construction, collapsed early Sunday, trapping dozens of workers under concrete slabs, twisted steel, and scaffolding.
At least four people have been confirmed dead, while at least 16 others are still missing. Twenty-six people, mostly construction workers, were rescued hours after the collapse.
No signs of life
Like Bernadette, Marilyn Huit, 49, has also spent days waiting near the site for her husband, Khula Huit, 53, who remains missing.
“I’m still hoping he is alive. I’m really waiting for someone to come out,” Marilyn said.
Retrieval operations intensified on Tuesday as teams prepared portions of the unstable structure for the possible use of heavy equipment.
A special rescue force used a crane as a lifeline while working atop the debris, carefully cutting through tangled steel bars and scaffolding to create an opening for retrieval personnel and machines.
Authorities said manual rescue operations would now shift to retrieval work aimed at reaching deeper into the collapse site, where several individuals were still believed trapped.
At 8:27 p.m. on Monday, Fire Supt. Maria Leah Sajili, regional public information officer of the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) in Central Luzon, declared the end of rescue operations after final assessments using a life locator device yielded negative results.
The assessment was made by a team from the Pasig City government.
Emergency crews from the BFP, the Philippine Coast Guard, the Philippine Army, the Philippine National Police, and other agencies had spent nearly two days manually searching unstable debris in hopes of locating survivors.
Despite the shift in operations, Angeles City Mayor Carmelo Lazatin II ordered retrieval teams to continue handling victims’ remains with “utmost respect and dignity.”
Amid retrieval efforts, a dog believed to belong to the site foreman suddenly emerged from the rubble and was rescued by responders. The animal was later turned over for medical evaluation before being taken to the city pound.
Accountability
Authorities also widened their investigation on who could be held accountable for the collapse of the building, which has been under construction since 2023.
Sajili said they were looking at the possible legal liability of the contractor and building owner, or whether structural defects, permit violations, or lapses in safety protocols contributed to the collapse.
Sajili also noted that the project had previously been cited for serious labor-related violations.
Reports showed that the Department of Labor and Employment (Dole) issued a work stoppage order against the project in September 2025 over occupational safety and health violations, including the lack of protective equipment for its workers and unsafe working conditions.
Geraldine Panlilio, Dole Central Luzon director, said the order was lifted a month later after the company complied with the department’s directives to correct the 13 violations that it initially cited.
In an interview with reporters on Tuesday, Panlilio acknowledged that her office no longer conducted inspections during the succeeding stages of construction beyond the initial three inspections.
She said the agency’s mandate focused on occupational safety and health compliance rather than on structural integrity, which fall outside its jurisdiction.
But on Tuesday, acting Labor Secretary Francis Tolentino suspended Panlilio pending an investigation into the lifting of the earlier work stoppage order.
“I’ll be placing Director Panlilio under preventive suspension for one month while investigation is ongoing,” Tolentino told reporters.
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