By Jennifer P. Rendon
The Bureau of Fire Protection -6 (BFP) will be filing a criminal case today, August 24, against three persons relative to the explosion of Power Barge 102.
Fire Senior Superintendent Jerry Candido, BFP-6 regional director, said the three are all employees of Bulacan Power Generation Corp.
Candido said they would slap a case for reckless imprudence resulting in damage to property under Article 365 of the Revised Penal Code against Adrian Bodiola, Rey Villarreal, and Jetton Villarias.
Bodiola was the welder while Villarreal was his immediate supervisor.
Records showed that Villarias was the safety officer when the incident happened.
No one from AC Energy Philippines, owner of Power Barge 102, was criminally hauled to court, as far as the explosion is concerned since Bulacan Power oversaw the barge’s operation and maintenance,
While they are a separate entity, it appeared that AC Energy is the parent company of Bulacan Power.
“Bulacan Power has their own personnel who was in charge of the operation and maintenance of the barge when the coast occurred,” Candido said.
The explosion, which happened July 3, 2020, led to the oil spill that affected several areas the city and province of Iloilo, and Guimaras.
The Philippine Coast Guard-Iloilo Station estimated that around 251,000 liters of bunker fuel may have leaked out of the power barge following the explosion.
SACRIFICIAL LAMB?
During the investigation, Bodiola solely “admitted” that he was responsible for the “hot works” that led to the explosion.
Hot work is any work that involves burning, welding, cutting, brazing, soldering, grinding, using fire- or spark-producing tools, or other work that produces a source of ignition.
“He admitted that he did it by himself,” Candido said.
But Villarreal and Villarias denied any hand in the explosion.
“But we don’t believe them. It was not a small work that they could not have known,” Candido said.
Besides, the minutes of the “toolbox talk” or meeting would reveal that Villarreal and Villarias knew about the hot works.
“We have documentary evidence for that. So even if Bodiola owned up to what happened, that he did it without being allegedly authorized, we still included his two superiors in the charges. Besides, they were on the barge when the incident happened,” Candido said.
It was gathered that the explosion happened as Bodiola was about to change the bolt near the air vent of the barge.
“Because he could not open it manually to replace the bolt, Bodiola cut it with an acetylene torch,” Candido said.
Even earlier, BFP investigators already ascertained that personnel were apparently trying to replace bolts at Tank No. 1 before the explosion. Above it was the air vent where accumulated fumes from the bunker pass through.
Candido had earlier said that the only way for the explosion to happen is for heat to get inside the tank.
“And undoubtedly, the use of acetylene is a good source of ignition,” Candido explained.
Fire investigators recovered an acetylene tank, nozzle, and hose at the site.
Apparently, the personnel conducted the hot works without securing permit from the BFP.
