The Two Serendra Blast: The Results are FINALLY Out!

The results are FINALLY OUT. Exactly 125 days after the Serendra blast, DILG Secretary Mar Roxas announced in a press conference earlier this afternoon that the blast was caused by “negligence.”

See article on Rappler: 3 Ayala firms face charges over Serendra blast.

 

Why did it take more than 4 months to figure out??

 

And just like that, Roxas has declared that Two Serendra residents are now allowed to move back into their homes! Well. It’s not that easy, mister.

• First off, it will take a while before they figure out what to do with this “result.” I heard that they are suing a whole lot of corporations, so this will be one messy legal battle.
• Secondly, our “homes” are a complete MESS. We have been displaced from our condos for 125 days! Can you imagine the amount of dust that has accumulated on our stuff, and the level of deterioration the elements have caused on our exposed floors and walls? There was damage to the property to begin with, because of the blast, but leave all of that alone for long, and you will get a hell of a mess.
• Thirdly, Alveo, the developer will need to get started on insurance claims ASAP so that they can start with the renovation of common areas (hallways, windows, etc.). We can’t go home yet when the ceilings in the hallways are all blasted open, and the doors are all unhinged! Crazy talk. I've been back a couple of times to get some of our stuff, and the whole Section B is a ghost town and a wreck. It's safe to say that it's going to take a while for Alveo and the contractor to sort everything out. Renovation might take 6 months minimum. Oh, and they need to replace the elevator too. Procurement, delivery and installation of an elevator takes MONTHS. Better get started, Alveo.
• And last but not the least, they need to have a third party check if it is indeed safe to move in already. Structural, electrical, plumbing and gas experts have to recheck all of the building elements and utilities to ensure that the residents’ lives can go completely back to normal upon moving back in.

I, for one, am glad that they have finally decided to release the results, but I'm still a bit puzzled by some of the (incomplete) details. For example, they will still need to clarify which governing body allowed the tenant to move in without first inspecting the unit after renovation. I find that part a bit iffy. And I'm sure a lot of people have their own questions about the investigation as well.

 

It's sad that it had to take this long for the government to come up with answers. Because of the delay, the residents have gone increasingly restless. Our fears may be calmed for now, because of the release of the results, but I sense a bigger battle ahead. Now, everybody will be clamoring for ACTION. Now that the "why" has been (partially) answered, what needs to be answered next is: What's the next step? What needs to be done? When will this be done? How?

 

More questions. How long will it take to answer each one?

 

 

The Two Serendra Blast: An Insider's Perspective

I was inside the building when the explosion happened.

On that last day of May for the year 2013, I was inside Section B of Two Serendra. However, if you expect to find pictures of the "crime scene," or accounts of doors being blasted open, or paintings falling off the walls, well, you've come to the wrong blog.

I do not have any pictures. I do not have any experiences of any glass breaking or boards falling on my head. Yes, I was in the building, but I wasn't in my condominium unit, nor was I out in the hallway...I was in the damn elevator.

Diagram of the proximity of the elevator lobby to the ill-fated unit

Timestamps are important

I remember the sequence of events very clearly, and I have a timestamp in my head of every single action I made prior to that blast. Let me try to recall the events leading to it:

• I arrived at our condominium unit from work at around 5:50 p.m. As I was driving to my parking slot, I saw a group of men chatting by one of the fire exit stairs at the basement before they entered the door. I think they were maintenance personnel, there to witness some sort of testing. I dunno what kind of testing, though.

• When I got to my parking slot, I noticed that the generator set was on (my slot is right in front of the GenSet room), so I was thinking that maybe there was a power interruption at that time.

• When I arrived at my unit, I changed into my yoga clothes. Electricity went out at around 6:00 p.m., then went back up again a few moments after. I was thinking that maybe they were putting the Meralco power back on. I remember my sister complaining to me that day that she experienced several power interruptions on that day and the day before (May 30 & 31, 2013). I think it was a routine check by maintenance.

• At 6:30 to 7:45 p.m., I was at the FNR yoga class at Urban Ashram (at the Active fun building near Bonifacio High Street).

• At 7:50 p.m., I hurriedly left the studio because I wanted to get home to Serendra before 8:00 p.m., to be able to shower and dress-up for my movie date at 9:20 p.m. at Glorietta 4.

• While walking home, I replied to my sister, who messaged me at 7:53 p.m. to borrow some of my clothes for her dinner that night. The timestamp on my reply was 7:55 p.m.

 

• I was already walking across the Two Serendra garden at the time I received a reply from her at exactly 8:00 p.m. After pausing to glance at her message, I proceeded to brisk walk to the Section B lobby. I remember a couple of security guards in uniform at the lobby, as they were on their way out for a dinner break, I think. I even exchanged pleasantries with one guard who was on his way out of the door.

• At a little past 8:00 p.m., I rode the elevator at the ground level, pressed my floor number...and then, BOOM! That's when all hell broke loose, but I didn't know it at that time.

Isolated from the chaos

It's hard to relate to the feelings of trauma and terror that some of the other residents felt during the whole ordeal, because I was so removed from it all; my trauma and terror were of a different nature, borne from a different situation.

Others were traumatized because of the loud boom that reverberated as far as Market! Market! mall. Some others were trapped inside their units (they had to kick their doors down), while some had their main doors blasted open during the explosion.

I didn't have any of these jarring experiences because I was isolated inside a steel box, which was in turn, inside three (3) solid walls of really thick reinforced concrete. The elevator shaft usually doubles as the "shear wall" in most buildings. Its strength and stiffness provide lateral resistance to a structure so it is actually the strongest structural element in a building (aside from the foundation, I guess). In short, given the situation, I was probably in the safest place in the whole of Section B. 

I was also in the most isolated place. Being in the elevator car, visually shut off from everything that was happening outside, the fear that gripped me was the fear of not knowing.

 

No room for panic

When I heard the BOOM, I let out a little scream while instinctively covering my ears. I felt a jolt under my feet, and just a few milliseconds after the BOOM, there was a CRASH on top of the elevator car (most probably pieces of the FiCem ceiling), and white dust billowed in through the vents.

Do you want to know the first thought that entered my mind when the elevator dropped? I'm a bit ashamed to admit this, but for posterity's sake, I guess I should disclose my first thought bubble after the BOOM:

"Oh no, I'm going to be late for my movie date."

I honestly thought that it was an isolated event; an elevator malfunction. I naively thought that I was the only one who was affected by whatever that BOOM was. It was a selfish, self-serving thought, but one that was caused by not being able to see what was going on outside.

After pressing the alarm button a couple of times, I decided to calm down and LISTEN. I didn't have my eyes to help me out, so I depended on my sense of hearing to get a grasp of what the heck was going on. That's when I started to hear the chaos outside. I could hear sirens blaring, fire alarms going off, feet pounding, voices shouting, glass breaking, and someone frantically pounding on a wall.

This wasn't just an elevator mishap. Something really bad was happening outside. Was it a bomb? A fire? Which floor? What unit? My mind immediately zoomed in to the memory of leaving several gadgets (including my phone) plugged into the convenience outlets to charge. Could that have caused a spark? After all, I remember that the power fluctuated shortly before I left the unit.

And then I thought of the possibility of my sister still being in the unit. She was just texting me (through my other phone) that she wanted to borrow my clothes. What if she was still there? What if the fire was in our unit? My text attempts changed from cries for help to frantic texts asking about my sister's safety:

The 2nd-5th lines of text were my attempts of messaging my sister from inside the elevator. Obviously, this was only sent the moment I got a signal on my phone, after I left the elevator

 

Something inside me was saying that I should be panicking, why wasn't I panicking? But the other part of me was saying: don't add to the chaos. Stay calm, preserve your oxygen, and work out the clues.

At that point, I squatted down to the floor, hugged my knees, and just listened for more clues from outside. The banging from nearby still hadn't stopped. I assumed that it was from the other elevator car; maybe somebody else was stuck. Later on, I learned that it was from one of the units at the lower floors: they were trying to knock their main door down to get out.

I was very calm, given the situation. If you knew me, you would not be surprised: my natural demeanor is really very...umm...quiet. I'm very soft-spoken, I'm not a very vocal person, and I hate confrontation. I know that panicking (flailing my arms around, banging my fist on walls, or shouting) is very "un-me." However, I also know that I have a tendency to freeze during emergency situations. That night, two things helped ground me:

1. As someone who works in the construction industry, I was very familiar with the safety features of an elevator. I know that those elevator free falls they show in movies aren't real. In the event of a power outage, machine malfunction or cable-breakage, the elevator has emergency brakes which automatically clamp on to the steel rails along the shaft. And even if that fails, there is a shock absorber installed in the elevator pit. I know that our building was only a few stories high, so I couldn't have had fallen from too high a height to result into a big ball of fire.
2.  The guy speaking to me through the intercom. He spoke to me a bit too late (20 whole minutes after the blast), but he was very reassuring. He tried to calm me down: "Ma'am, wag ka mag-alala (Ma'am, don't worry)." Then he gave me information: "May parating na po na maintenance para buksan ang elevator (The maintenance personnel are on their way to open the elevator doors)." Then he proceeded to calm me down some more. "Huwag po kayong magpapanic (Don't panic!)." Thanks,  Mr. Voice Through the Intercom. :)

There was a time, though, that Mr. Voice Through the Intercom was talking to someone else, and what he said almost brought me to a panic. He said: "Kailangan ng susi sa 7th floor! Dalian mo! (They need a key for the 7th floor! Hurry up!)" What was happening at the 7th floor? Who was trapped there?? What's going on?!?!

Breathe in. Breathe out. Stay steady. Stay calm. I was telling myself: "What's running through your mind right now is all just speculation..."

What was really happening outside the elevator

 

I only found out about the real events when I got out of the elevator. Aside from the obvious fact that Unit 501-B was blown into smithereens, the maintenance & security groups were also helping out several trapped residents in Section B. It was not my unit that exploded. The building was not on fire. My sister was not in the unit. I'm not sure what "key" Mr. Voice Through the Intercom was referring to, although I am speculating that this is the key to the fire exit stair door from the inside of the fire exit stair well. Maybe they were trying to go up to save some of the residents who were in their condominium units during the blast.



 

What really happened inside that elevator

DILG secretary Mar Roxas said that as part of their investigation, they will be reviewing all CCTV footage in the lobbies and elevators. If they were to check the footage in elevator 2, where I was, they would probably see nothing out of the ordinary. Aside from the initial BOOM and CRASH, and me letting out a tiny little scream, they would probably just see a lot of dust floating around...and me doing any of the following actions at one point:

• pressing the alarm button frantically
• typing out a text message or two...which was totally useless because there was NO SIGNAL whatsoever inside that steel box, so I was...
• waving my phone around, raising it to the ceiling, trying to find a signal
• staring at myself in the mirror
• pressing the alarm button to the beat of "Happy Birthday"
• taking a picture of my surroundings (ok, I admit it, kasama ako sa picture)
• pressing my ear against the door, trying to make sense of what was happening on the other side
• knocking on the door very meekly (yeah, like how you would knock on someone's front door)
• (ok, maybe just once I was) pounding the elevator door with my fist.

In the 30 minutes that I was inside the elevator, I admit that there were times when I wanted to cry. But my rational side prevailed (a miracle, given how emotional I am), and I just decided to stay strong until the time I could see for myself what was happening outside.

My elevator experience was truly a harrowing experience, but I was one of the lucky ones that night.  I am thankful that we weren't inside the unit when the blast happened. I am thankful that my sister and I were both at the right place at the right time. Any second earlier or later and I could have been stuck in between the doors, or maybe pinned under a fallen ceiling. I am thankful to the maintenance and security personnel of Serendra who responded right away. There were even some volunteers: some residents who were wearing the Two Serendra basketball league uniforms.

I saw how quick they were to respond, and how brave they all were. They were rushing up and down the fire exit stairs to save the residents, even if they were aware of how dangerous the building might still be after the blast. :)

Unreachable

I mentioned earlier that the fear that gripped me was the fear of not knowing what was going on. I imagine that it must be the same for the friends and family who have been trying to reach me through my cellphone/s. My main cellphone, whose number is known by most, was left inside the unit. When I was able to retrieve it a week after, I saw that I had 61 unread text messages, 764 WhatsApp messages, and 36 missed calls. <3 It warms my heart now, to know that so many people were concerned, but I can only imagine how anxious they might have been when I didn't answer any of their calls or messages.

Such was the case with my sister, when she tried calling both of my numbers and was met by either a busy signal, unanswered ringing, or the dreaded "the subscriber cannot be reached" recorded voice. She knew that the possibility of me being in the unit at that time was high, and when she couldn't get a hold of me, she panicked. I think she was even more hysterical than I was. :)

I was able to contact her soon after I got out of the elevator, and she ran all the way from Bonifacio High Street Central to Two Serendra in high heels. Ah, sisterly love. :)

Needless to say, my movie date did not push through. Thank you to my boyfriend, Ton, for rushing to the scene, and for assisting me and my sister that night. :*

Different perspectives

As of today, the investigation is still underway, there are still no definitive results, and we are still not allowed back to our unit, even just to get a few important items. There are a lot of speculations / conspiracy theories floating around. I, myself, have my own theories, but I choose not to voice it out here because I do not wish to spread false information. After all, I am not a forensic expert.

All I can do for now is to sit back and wait. Wait for all of the government agencies to finish with their investigation. Wait for them to make sense of all the information / evidence they have gathered. Wait for them to make a conclusion. Wait for them to finally release the "crime scene" and allow us back into our homes. I know this could take several months, but I have hope that they will give us the complete results, in time.

I imagine this to be a huge PR nightmare for Ayala Land, but so far, they have been handling it very well. They give us daily updates, and that in itself is the most comforting thing they could ever give us. I have also gotten to talk to my neighbors in the building whom I used to just nod to in the corridors or in the elevator. I guess you can say that this incident brought the community closer together. Shared experience is always a good starting point for friendship.

If you could get to eavesdrop on conversations between neighbors, you will hear a lot of "insider's perspectives" during the blast. Every resident's story is interesting, as each have an opinion on what they think happened, based on their  unique experiences. Each have their own emotions attached to each story. Mine is just one story, one perspective.

In the days to come, maybe more stories will surface which can help paint the complete picture of what happened to Section B of Two Serendra (on this note, I wonder why the investigators are not getting personal accounts from residents?).

There are sure to be tragic stories, like those who've lost their family members in such a sudden way, or those who have gotten serious injuries or trauma. But there are also stories of hope; stories that show us how humane our society still is; stories that show concern for others; and stories that showcase the kindness and bravery of people. :)

How about you? What is your perspective?

* * * *

Pahabol: The day after the incident, I posted a status on Facebook to update my friends and family who have been trying to reach me through the whole ordeal. As I mentioned above, I left my main cellphone charging in the unit and I haven't been able to retrieve it. The status was as follows:

"To everyone who has been trying to contact me, and to everyone who is concerned, don't worry, my sister & I are ok. Our unit is 2 floors above unit 501-B, but thankfully, I wasn't in the unit YET when the blast happened at 8:10 p.m. At exactly that time, I was on my way up on the elevator. It fell a couple of floors, but thank God for automatic brakes. Maintenance personnel rescued me at 8:40 p.m. 

I talked to our neighbors who were in their unit during the blast & they said that all main doors along the length of the hallway were removed from the hinges & crashed down into the units during the blast. All of our valuables are still in the unit (including my Smart phone, so please do not contact me there). I hope that there is minimal damage (& hopefully no theft!), but I am also thankful that we were not inside when it happened. 

We hope that they can release the results of the investigation soon."

My Tita Ces, who is a journalist on ABS-CBN, saw this status and asked if she could interview me & my sister about the experience. The video is shown below:

Panic

There have been a lot of natural disasters happening around the world recently -- like the earthquake in Churchill, New Zealand and the tsunami in Japan. There are man-made tragedies and accidents too, such as the Eton gondola disaster. Because of these recent events, people have become more vigilant about safety standards and emergency preparedness.

Just last week, a representative of the Metro Manila Development Authority conducted a 2-hour seminar on Fire Prevention and Earthquake / Disaster Preparedness. The presentation was very informative: with pictures of past disasters; detailed explanation of the cause and nature of fire; detailed description of how an earthquake occurs; statistics; studies on what will happen to Metro Manila if/when an earthquake occurs (which places will be the most affected); and tips & procedures on what to do in case of fire / earthquake.

While listening to the presentation (and viewing the very graphic pictures of disasters), I remembered the time we went to the Safety Theme Park in Daegu, South Korea. Yes, you read it right: a theme park dedicated to SAFETY. They have a Living Safety Exhibition Hall where they educate you on mountain safety, mountain fire, and an interactive exhibit showcasing indoor and outdoor earthquake missions; a Disaster Prevention Future Hall; and their main feature, the Subway Safety Exhibition Hall.

This Safety Park was built as a response to the Daegu Subway Arson Attack in 2009. It's mission is to educate visitors that everybody is responsible for their own safety, as well as the others surrounding them. The main "event" is the movie showing the before-and-after scenes (reenactment) of the subway fire. After the (very touching and very shocking) video, visitors are then taken into the next room, where the actual (burned) subway car is displayed in a replica of the subway station. It was truly an eye-opener for me to watch a reenactment of what happened (they told the story through the eyes of teenage girl who was in the train). It was eerie seeing the actual subway car, and the room was respectfully quiet as everyone surveyed the scene.

But the experience doesn't end there. A short orientation video was shown on subway safety, where they demonstrated the steps to be followed in case of a subway accident. We were taken into a subway car, where emergency procedures will be simulated: we had to learn how to open the subway door manually, and then use the glow-in-the-dark stickers on the floor as our guide to exit the station. Sounds pretty easy, right?

Not really. Especially when the air is thick with smoke, and those stickers are rendered useless.

I was paralyzed with fear. I remember trying to drag my feet, groping my way out of that hazy mess, and losing track of my group mates. The others were quick on their feet and were out of the room in no time: I could hear them chatting and laughing in a place far away from where I was standing. I couldn't see where I was going, and therefore, I was scared shitless of bumping or tripping into something. Pretty stupid, right, as this was only a simulation? But my brain shut down, and I couldn't move.

After a few minutes (it seemed like eternity to me), I could hear the voices of my team, who were apparently out of the smoke. They've been waiting for me to go out, and they were getting worried that it was taking me so long. They "dispatched" someone to come and get me, and when I heard his voice call out through the haze, I flailed my arms around trying to see if I could grab onto him and get the hell out of there.

Panic attack. That's the only phrase that can describe what I went through. I am rendered useless in a disaster, as my fear takes over all of my motor skills. I know that this is really bad (not to mention inconvenient), and I should learn to overcome this tendency. I don't want to be a burden to my companions if or when a disaster strikes.

The recent events are a wake-up call for all of us: we should never take safety for granted. Being caught-of-guard during a disaster is...well, disastrous. If we have the presence-of-mind and the due diligence to ensure our personal safety, this can be a starting point for also ensuring the safety of others.

Be safe. The life you save could be your own.