THE PROBLEM: Bedroom ceiling at a top-end BGC condominium collapses on sleeping family and the developer has refused to take responsiblity

THE INCIDENT: At 1am of July 25, Thania Alcantara, her husband and two children woke up in their loft apartment, on the fourth floor of Bellagio Tower Two in BGC, to the sound of gushing water and falling debris.* Fearing it was an earthquake, they got out of the bedroom and ran to the first floor of their condo.

Thania and her family went down to the lobby and waited for the property manager to explain what happened, but after waiting for hours, neither the property manager nor the property developer’s representative showed up. So they had no choice but to spend the night at her parent’s house.

Thania returned the following day to found out what really happened: the ceiling had collapsed on their bed.

“They said that their maintenance contractor, MLS Service, was replacing a water valve on the 19th floor at 1am and may not have closed the valves properly and water gushed out,” she tells Coconuts Manila.

“When we checked the unit again, we saw an opening around the exhaust duct which is all the way up to the 30th floor. It turns out that there was a shaft directly above our ceiling which ends on my unit. I had it inspected by engineers and building safety experts and they said that opening is supposed to be sealed.”

THE RESPONSE: The developer’s engineers and construction people finally inspected the unit on Oct 25 — three months after the incident. Their VP said it is standard practice not to seal vertical openings. But according to the building code it should be,” explains Thania.

The developer’s customer relations department has since offered Thania and her family a new one bedroom unit. But she is not accepting, since they wanted her to pay extra. “They are basing the unit prices from the pre-selling rate instead of the current rate. So no deal,” she explains.

They have also given her a letter of recommendation on repairs that need to be done in her unit. Thania in return asked them for a due diligence report. She is still waiting for it. After four months of waiting, Thania and her husband, William has filed a formal complaint against the property developer at the HLURB. No date has yet been set on the hearing.

SHOULD COULDA WOULDA: The aggrieved owners have been able to wait patiently for four months without filing any charges. This means they are open to negotiation. The developer should just fix the ceiling, replace damaged furniture and objects, and figure out ways to prevent this from happening again. If word gets out that they are cutting corners just to meet deadlines and cost, they are putting themselves in a bad spot with consumers. They should also have tried resolving this as soon as possible and not allowed it to drag on for months.

*This sentence has been updated for clarity and accuracy. The original sentence was, “At 1am of July 25, the ceiling literally came down on Thania Alcantara, her husband and two children while they were asleep in their loft apartment on the fourth floor of Bellagio Tower Two in BGC. They woke up to the sound of water gushing and falling debris.”

UPDATE [Dec 10, 10pm] Coconuts Manila has received a reply from Megaworld Corporation through Harold C. Geronimo, director of Strategic Marketing and Communications, and we are printing their official statement in full below.

To put things in perspective and to avoid misinformation, Megaworld Corporation (“Megaworld”) deems it proper to reply to the article published on 9 December 2013 at 2:18pm at the blog site Coconuts Manila, entitled “Should coulda woulda: Ceiling collapses in BGC condo”

Let it be clarified at the outset that Megaworld is not unmindful of this situation. Megaworld coordinated with the concerned parties early on and it was able to confirm the cause of the accident.

The article made a statement that “the ceiling literally came down on Thania Alcantara, her husband and two children while they were asleep …” This is not accurate. While it is unfortunate that an accident did occur last 25 July 2013 which affected Unit 4J of The Bellagio II owned by Spouses William and Thania Alcantara, no one got hurt.

Megaworld completed The Bellagio II condominium project sometime in 2009. It was issued the appropriate permits and certificates, particularly the Certificate of Occupancy before it was occupied by residents. Megaworld has already turned over the condominium units to buyers and the administration of the condominium to the Homeowners Association/Condominium Corporation years ago. Megaworld delivered Unit 4J to Spouses Alcantara in good order and condition in 2010. Unit 4J is a one bedroom lofted unit.

On 25 July 2013, more than four years after Megaworld dutifully completed the condominium project, the water leak incident transpired. The official report of persons present at the building and who immediately investigated the same, reveal that the water leak came from the 19th floor which was caused by human error of the building’s plumber while he was replacing a worn-out water gate valve in the 19th floor. It was confirmed that he was not able to properly close the isolation valve located at the 18th floor which caused pressurized water to come out uncontrollably when he removed the worn-out gate valve at the 19th floor.

The building’s plumber is under the employ of MLS Builder and Service Corporation (“MLS”), the maintenance services provider of The Bellagio II, under a contract with the Homeowners’ Association/Condominium Corporation.

It so happened that the downward trajectory of the water coming from the 19th floor flowed and found its way ultimately above the ceiling of Unit 4J. Water flowed to this area solely because of the negligence of the plumber in failing to properly close the isolation water valve at the 18th floor when he was performing maintenance works for the water system of the condominium. In other words, had the plumber properly closed the isolation valve, this would not have happened.

Because of the accumulation of water directly above it, the ceiling of the bedroom area of Unit 4J caved in.

The negligence of the plumber was occasioned during maintenance and repair works on water utilities of The Bellagio II, which is under the responsibility of the Homeowners’ Association/Condominium Corporation, not Megaworld.

The property management office conducted an investigation of the incident. Similar to the findings of the Security Department in its Incident Report, the property management office found that the root cause of the problem is “Human Error” of the plumber, under the employ of MLS.

Upon coordination by the property management office with MLS, the latter acknowledged its responsibility over the mistake of its plumber, which caused damage to Unit 4J. Thus, MLS assured Spouses Alcantara that it will shoulder all the expenses for the restoration and repairs of the unit including rental fees for temporary residence of Spouses Alcantara. For this purpose, MLS issued a check in the amount of Php144,000 and another one in the amount of Php104,468.00 both in favor of Spouses Alcantara to defray the initial expenses for these.

Meanwhile, Spouses Alcantara relocated to a much bigger two bedroom condominium unit for their temporary accommodation commanding a monthly rent of Ph80,000.00 plus Php4,000 parking rental plus association dues of Php9,632.00. Based on reports, the temporary accommodation belongs to a sibling of Mrs. Alcantara. These expenses are being shouldered by MLS.

Megaworld’s engineers, without admission of any violation, but acting proactively and for the best interests of the unit owners of The Bellagio II, made specific action plans and recommendations to address the concerns, even if the said utilities are not the proximate cause of the ceiling’s collapse. The action plan would have been completed within fifteen (15) days.

Instead of giving their go-signal so that the recommended action plan on the utilities above Unit 4J can be performed, and Unit 4J can finally be repaired and restored, both without any expense on the part of Spouses Alcantara, they filed a Complaint on 18 November 2013 with the HLURB, asking instead for damages of Php4,500,000.00 (1 Million for actual damages, 3 Million for moral damages, Php500,000.00 for attorney’s fees) plus rental expenses of Php93,632.00 per month until the case is settled with finality.

Spouses Alcantara have already gone to the proper forum, the HLURB. Megaworld has already filed its Answer to the Complaint, explaining thoroughly its position on the matter. At the HLURB, Spouses Alcantara can claim what they feel is the appropriate relief. It, thus, comes as a surprise to Megaworld that Spouses Alcantara resorted to social media to voice out their grievance. With the large amount of damages being claimed, and the timing of the publication of the article, and considering that there is already an existing case with the HLURB, one cannot help but think that this is being used to put pressure on Megaworld to give in to the claims for damages.

To date, the appropriate works, which concerned parties are willing and ready to do without any expense on the part of Spouses Alcantara, have not commenced because Spouses Alcantara have not allowed access to their unit for the purpose. They prefer to leave the one bedroom Unit 4J in a non-habitable condition and stay instead in the 2 bedroom condominium unit reportedly owned by Mrs. Alcantara’s sibling, at MLS’ expense.

With this, we trust that the foregoing has sufficiently clarified the matter. Since the case is already with the HLURB, we are hopeful that the controversy can be decided expeditiously. Let us allow the HLURB to do its job in deciding the case since it is already sub judice. This controversy cannot be settled by continuous ranting and expression of views and opinions through social media. Rather, it can be definitively settled and decided, by no other than, the HLURB, after affording the parties their right to due process.

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