CITY OF SAN FERNANDO — President Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday ordered to suspend the business permits of Chuzon Supermarket branches in other towns pending reassessment of the structural integrity for the safety of its consumers.
This came shortly after a magnitude 6.1 earthquake jolted the entire province, leaving 15 deaths, 19 missing, and 120 survivors.
The President, during the briefing, questioned the proximate cause of the collapsed structure of Chuzon Supermarket, a 4-storey building built in 2014.
“It would be good at this time to just stop, cease and desist omdoing business until such time the clearance be given by government, or the city engineer or whoever is competent to review the planning,” Duterte said shortly after his visit at Chuzon Supermarket in Porac town.
In his report, Interior Secretary Eduardo Año linked the collapse to the structural design of the supermarket, which is only designed for a 2-storey building.
“The structure is only good for a second floor, but it was constructed up to the fourth floor,” Año stressed.
With that, Año will be issuing a memorandum circular to local government units (LGUs) that have a Chuzon Supermarket in their jurisdiction to temporarily suspend their business permit pending reassessment of the structural design of their buildings for the safety of the people.
Earlier, Vice Governor Dennis Pineda has ordered Mayors of Apalit, Sto. Tomas, Guagua and Floridablanca to order the temporary closure of Chuzon Supermarket branches in those towns to give way to structural assessments, with people’s safety being the priority.
Meanwhile, Chuzon’s owner Businessman Samuel Chu is now the custody of the police pending the investigation of the groceries owned by him.