MANOR

HOTEL
CASTILLO, EUGENE AUREL
FAMISARAN, KRYSTAL CLAIRE
GOTARDO, CHERADEE BLAIR
JACOSALEM, RACHELLE

GENERAL
INFORMATION
Location: Kamias Road, West
Kamias, Quezon City, Philippines
Date of Tragedy: August 18, 2001
Architect: Not Stated
Contractor: Not Stated
Owner: Not Stated
2nd worst hotel fire in the
Philippines

PROBLEM
STATEMENT
The fire, believed to have
been caused by an electrical
fault, started shortly after 4
a.m. on the third floor and
spread quickly to adjoining
floors
Arson probers said a shortcircuit in the ceiling of a third
floor stockroom sparked the
blaze.

Burned down furniture inside the hotel

as a result of the fire

PROBLEM
STATEMENT
Thick smoke spread quickly through the
stairways and ventilation shaft, and
accumulated in the upper floors where
most of the victims were sleeping.
Windows and balconies has iron bars (antiburglar) which trapped the people
"Without doubt, there would have been
more people rescued if there had been no
iron grills on the windows,Mayor Belmonte
said. "There were people hanging on
windows crying out to be rescued.

Trapped hotel guest shout for help as

they are prevented by burglar bars
from escaping outside the window of
the Manor hotel

PROBLEM
STATEMENT
Apparently not designed as a hotel,
having no windows on the rear and
had some permanent occupants
Electricity was cut off during the
fire which broke out shortly after 4
a. m., plunging the hotel into total
darkness.
A survivor said there were no
emergency lights, sprinkler system
or warning device
Some of the fire exits were locked
or obstructed

PROBLEM
STATEMENT
Left with nowhere to go,
most of the victims died
suffocating from smoke
inhalation caused by the fire

Most victims were found inside

bathrooms, trying to save themselves
from the fire

PROBLEM
STATEMENT
claimed 75 lives (the victims were
participant in a Christian Crusade
sponsored by the Texas-based Don
Clowers ministries)
62 guests died in the hotel
13 died in hospital
57 people (third degree burn)
fatalities were adults with ages 3040
6 fatalities were children

Fire victims were laid at a near

basketball court for identification

ANALYSIS
OF FACTS
There
were
many
codes
violated in the Manor Hotel
tragedy, yet it was approved by
the QC City Hall. Then, Mayor
Feliciano Belmonte has ordered
investigation
regarding
the
violations of the fire regulation
code.

Arson investigators peer through the

back window of the Manor Hotel

 A mere utility man signed the business

permit.
Belmonte said the sacked employees were
believed responsible for the issuance of the
permit to operate the Manor Hotel.
The mayor also scored the BFP for failure to
submit to his office a list of establishments
with violations of the building code.
146;s business permit expired last June 30
and was not renewed or extended.
Probers also said the hotel has been stealing
electricity through illegal "jumpers" attached
to power lines, and failed to comply with
previous orders from city fire officials.

 Similar complaint, which carries the

maximum penalty of six years
imprisonment, was filed earlier against Mr.
Genato, who reportedly went into hiding
soon after fire gutted his hotel.
For her part, Mrs. Genato denied most of the
accusations against them.

VIOLATIONS
According to National Building Code:
"Every building or usable portion thereof
shall have at least one exit. In all
occupancies, floors above the first storey
having an occupant load of more than 10
shall not have less than two exits. Each
mezzanine floor used for other than storage
purposes, if greater in area than 185 square
meters or more than 18.00 meters in any
dimension, shall have at least two stairways
to an adjacent floor.

Police investigators and a news

photographer look at the victims of a
hotel fire

 Section 4 of the code specifies the

distance of exits.

"No point in a building without a sprinkler

system shall be more than 45.00 meters from
an exterior exit door, a horizontal exit, exit
passage way, or an enclosed stairway,
measured along the line of travel. In a building
equipped with a complete automatic fire
extinguishing system the distance from exits
may be increased to 60.00 meters.
This provision was applicable to every exit
door serving an area having an occupant
load of more than 10 or serving hazardous
rooms or areas. It also specified that every
exit door should exceed 1.20 meters in
width.

 Acting Ombudsman Margarito Gervacio said

a three-man panel of investigators found
probable cause to indict former Quezon City
Engineer Alfredo Macapugay of violation of
the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.
Macapugay, engineering head, failed to
impose sanctions and closure proceedings
against the hotel despite prior knowledge of
repeated violations committed by its owners
from 1996 to 2001.

List of
People got
Relieved
from the
Position
because of
the accident

Business permit and licensing office chief:

Rafael Galvez
Engineering head: Alfredo Macapugay
Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) head Chief
Superintendent: Francisco Senot
Chief of electrical division: Romeo
Montallana
Electrical Inspector: Gerardo Villaseor
Other business permits and licensing
office personnel: Godfrey Colet, Jose Caluag,
Voltaire Padilla and Willy Jerez
Owners of hotel charged: William Genato,
his wife Rebecca, hotel officers Porfirio Germina,
Marion Fernandez, Dionisio Arengino, Antonio
Beltran and Candelaria Aranador.

Conclusion

After brief, whirlwind moves to show that

something was being done about the problem
of potential firetraps, the government
officials and owners of buildings
continued to go on in their usual, devilmay-care way, unperturbed by the
possibility that their negligence and apathy
could kill scores of people in the future.
The chief culprit, however, is not ordinary
Filipinos but the social system in the
Philippines and elsewhere that puts
profits ahead of human life and thereby
fosters a climate of bureaucratic indifference,
criminal negligence and outright corruption,
even when elementary safety standards
are at stake.

Conclusion

As investigations and reports would show

that the primary reason for the number of
fire tragedies that the country has
witnessed, particularly the conflagration of
the Ozone disco and the Manor Hotel, were
caused by the laxity in the enforcement
of the building safety and fire laws
specifically the Fire Code of the Philippines
and its Implementing Rules and Regulations,
and other related ordinances.
The law is too soft, penalties that has been
issued are light compared to damage that it
had inflicted in the accident causing many
deaths. Thus, a

Recommendations

According to an act revising the fire code of

the Philippines, thereby amending
Presidential Decree no. 1185 and for other
purposes , Senate Bill 2196.

Recommendations

Thus, pursuing first as a priority the safety of

the occupants and the standards of a
building than any other interest could lessen
the tragedies that could happen in the
future.

References
http://www.philstar.com/headlines/130574/qc-hotel-fire-kills-75
http://www.philstar.com/opinion/130849/manor-hotel-fire-ozonedisco-fire-part-ii
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2001/08/phil-a23.html
http://abcnews.go.com/International/story?id=80614
Senate Bill 2196: https://www.senate.gov.ph/lisdata/71676395!.pdf
AFP,AP: Manor Hotel Owner Haunted Philippine Daily Inquirer
Aug 22, 2001 https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2479&dat=20010822
&id=C1U1AAAAIBAJ&sjid=bSUMAAAAIBAJ&pg=2719,37393005&hl=e
n