July 8, 2015, 5:50 a.m.; updated 7:50 a.m. – SPECIAL term classes at the Faculty of Arts and Letters and the College of Commerce and Business Administration resume tomorrow, four days after the fire that broke out at St. Raymund de Peñafort Building.
Classes were supposed to resume today but Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada suspended classes at all levels because of bad weather.
Commerce will hold classes at the Main Building and Artlets at the Buenaventura Garcia Paredes, O.P. Building, while clean-up operations at St. Raymund’s are being conducted.
The Commerce Dean’s Office was moved temporarily to the second floor of the Tan Yan Kee Students’ Center, while the Artlets Dean’s Office was transferred to the General Education Office at the Main Building.
Reynaldo Marcelino, deputy chief of the Manila Fire Department, said the fire started around 8:40 p.m. last Sunday. The blaze originated from the fourth floor of St. Raymund’s, in Room 405, and spread to rooms 403, 407, and 409.
Room 407 housed the offices of the Commerce dean, regent, secretary, and office staff. Room 409 was the office for department chairpersons.
The fire reached fourth alarm before firetrucks arrived at 9:12 p.m. Firemen declared fire out around 10 p.m.
A deputy security commander was treated for breathing difficulty, a report by the Philippine Daily Inquirer said.
In a phone call last Monday, SFO4 John Joseph Jalique, head of the Manila Fire District Arson Department Investigating Unit, said the investigation on the cause of the fire was still ongoing.
An initial estimate placed the damage at P3 million. Dayanara T. Cudal
