The Quezon City government immediately ordered concerned offices to look into the incident involving a three-story structure that fell into a creek in Barangay Del Monte on Friday.
No one was hurt in the incident as the structure was being utilized as storage area for the owner’s glass and aluminum business.
Based on initial investigation, the owner of the structure failed to obtain a building permit from the Department of Building Official (DBO), making the structure illegal.
The DBO recommended the filing of criminal complaint against the owner for violation of Section 301 of the National Building Code.
The DBO, Engineering Department and the Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office also recommended to reclaim the easement of five meters and to coordinate with the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) in building a retaining wall to reinforce against erosion.
The DBO enjoined all barangay captains to report all illegal structure to the building official as mandated to them by Section 20 of the QC Local Building Code.
The Housing Community Development and Resettlement Department (HCDRD) suggested the immediate relocation of around 105 informal settler families (ISFs) in Barangay Del Monte, 20 of them living in West Riverside St., the site of the incident.
The city government will work and coordinate with the National Housing Authority (NHA), the agency tasked to relocate families living along waterways, for their immediate transfer.
The HCDRD will also look at all available housing inventories of the City to determine whether families at risk can be immediately relocated, pending talks with the NHA.
Various city offices, led by the Engineering Department, Task Force on Solid Waste Management, DRRMO and the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) Urban Search and Rescue Team, are currently conducting assessment and cleanup operations in the area.
The NHA and the city government also inspected ISF areas in Barangay Obrero, where a similar incident happened last month.
