MANILA, Philippines—One year after the explosion at the Glorietta 2 Mall in Makati City killed 11 people and injured more than a hundred others, business for the affected companies is back to normal.

Customers are back to the mall and the number of shoppers has returned to normal levels, according to Jorge Miguel Marco, corporate communications head of Ayala Land Inc.

Its relationship with lessor Makati Supermarket Corp. (MSC) remains stable, Marco added. Clients also remained with Marchem Industrial Sales and Services, its operations manager Clifford Arriola also said.

The Department of Justice filed criminal charges of reckless imprudence resulting in homicide and multiple physical injuries against eight officers and staff members of MSC, Marchem and pipework company Metaline as it cleared officials of mall owner ALI of any liability.

“Things normalized since the beginning of the year in terms of foot traffic,” Marco told the Philippine Daily Inquirer, parent company of INQUIRER.net. He said this was because of “the confidence of mall goers in our mall's security and safety measures.”

The management had claimed the mall was bombed, citing findings of a probe it had commissioned. The police however maintained accumulated gas in the mall's basement caused the blast.

“Since last year we have increased the number of guards as well as the number of K9 dogs detailed at all our malls. We continue to observe all safety procedures and apply best practices in ensuring safety in and around our malls,” Marco said.

Their employees, too, including those initially implicated in the accident, have moved on.

“We are pleased to note that our employees have moved on and things have normalized since early this year,” he said. Those whom the police had initially held responsible for the blast also “resumed their usual duties even while legal proceedings were going on.”

Marco said the accident “has actually brought our employees closer together.”

The Inquirer requested interviews with Ayala officials whom the DOJ cleared of criminal responsibility, namely building engineer Marcelo Botenes, building administrator Jowell Velvez, and Glorietta building manager Arnel Gonzales.

But Marco said they all “specifically requested not to be interviewed.”
The Inquirer also spoke with MSC assistant for projects and project engineer Candelario Valdueza, one of those the DOJ said were liable for the blast, but he declined to answer questions.

Reached by phone in his office at the MSC, Valdueza said his company was helping him in legal expenses, but when asked how the incident has affected his professional work, he answered: “No comment.”

The Inquirer also sent questions to the company and a telephone operator claimed to have received the emailed questions. Nobody from the company responded, however.

The MSC was renting space from the Ayala Property Management Corp. (APMC) which owns the mall. Marchem was in charge of technical maintenance of electrical work in the MSC basement while Metaline was hired for the pipework.

Valdueza said since they were renting the place from APMC, the maintenance and the repair works were already under APMC.

But Marco said Marchem was the contractor of MSC.

Arriola said the threat of a lawsuit was not only “disheartening,” but also a burden to the finances of his company. But he said Marchem continued to enjoy the trust of its clients.

The DOJ recommended the filing of charges against Valdueza, Arriola, Marchem supervisor Joselito Buenaventura, Marchem maintenance personnel Charlie Nepomuceno, Jonathan Ibuna and Juan Ricafort; Metaline operations manager and engineer Ricardo Cruz and Metaline foreman Miguel Velasco Jr.