Amid the ongoing operations at the collapsed building in Barangay Balibago, Angeles City, rescuers recovered a dog believed to be the foreman’s pet from beneath the rubble.
According to the Angeles City Information Office (ACIO), responders were conducting search and rescue operations when the dog suddenly emerged from the debris on Monday, May 25, drawing attention from rescuers and onlookers at the scene.
The dog was immediately taken into the care of authorities and transferred to the Angeles City Dog Pound and Animal Shelter Compound.
The canine is now under the supervision of the city veterinary office, where it is being closely monitored, fed wet food and given vitamins for recovery.
Retrieval
After rescuers no longer detected signs of life beneath the rubble, authorities officially shifted from search and rescue (SAR) operations to retrieval operations at the collapsed building under construction in Barangay Balibago on Tuesday, May 26.
The ACIO said the Unified Command System officially terminated SAR operations at 8:27 p.m. Monday following a final assessment using a life locator conducted by a team from the Pasig City local government unit.
Despite the shift in operations, Angeles City Mayor Carmelo Lazatin II directed all retrieval teams to continue exercising “utmost respect, dignity and proper handling” of the victims’ re-mains during the recovery process.
As retrieval operations commenced, Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) special rescue force personnel started using cranes to clear portions of the collapsed structure, cutting metal bars and interconnected scaffoldings in preparation for heavy equipment operations.
“We did our best to save their lives,” BFP Central Luzon spokesperson Maria Leah Sajili told reporters.
Authorities said the safety of responders and the public remains a priority as protocols for the management of the dead and missing continue to be enforced.
At least 73 police personnel and 516 personnel from other agencies remain deployed at the site.
As of Tuesday, authorities recorded 47 victims, including 27 rescued, 16 missing and four confirmed dead.
Preventive suspension
Acting Labor Secretary Francis Tolentino ordered on Tuesday the preventive suspension of the regional director of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) in Central Luzon as authorities investigate the collapse of a nine-story condominium under construction in Angeles City, Pampanga that left several workers dead and missing.
Tolentino said the one-month preventive suspension of regional director Geraldine Panlilio was meant to ensure an impartial investigation into the incident in Barangay Balibago.
“I’ll be placing director Panlilio under preventive suspension for one month while the investigation is ongoing… So we can properly investigate why the work stoppage order was lifted,” Tolentino told reporters.
Initial reports showed that the construction project, operated by Golden Years Construction Co. for a foreign client, had been issued a work stoppage order by DOLE Region 3 in September 2025 due to violations of occupational safety and health standards.
The office also received reports last year that workers were not being given mandatory government benefits.
According to Panlilio, the work stoppage order was lifted after the contractor corrected the identified deficiencies and complied with the required safety measures within about a month. Inspectors later determined there was no longer any immediate danger to workers.
She stressed that DOLE’s responsibility is limited to enforcing occupational safety and health standards, while structural safety concerns fall under the building code.
Tolentino, however, raised concerns over safety practices at the site, particularly the placement of worker barracks within or near the structure under construction.
“There were reports that one barracks was located about five meters away, which is why a worker identified as Mr. Alvis survived,” he said.
He also questioned the apparent lack of follow-up inspections after the work stoppage order was lifted, despite continued construction activity.
Panlilio acknowledged that no further inspections were conducted after the initial assessment.
Tolentino noted that the building may have only been around four stories high when the order was lifted, but had since risen to about nine or 10 stories and reportedly included a swimming pool.
He added that the agency may revise its procedures to require repeated site inspections even after a work stoppage order has been lifted to ensure sustained compliance.
The deadly collapse also prompted calls in the Senate for a legislative inquiry and an overhaul of the country’s decades-old building code.
Senate inquiry
Sen. Francis Pangilinan filed Senate Resolution 406 on Tuesday seeking an investigation into the incident, amid reports that the tragedy may have been caused by the unauthorized construction of an additional floor that compromised the structure’s integrity.
“This accident reflects the urgent need to strengthen the enforcement of safety regulations in the construction of buildings, whether public or private. In the end, it is our unfortunate countrymen who suffer because of this negligence,” Pangilinan said.
Sen. Raffy Tulfo, meanwhile, filed Senate Bill No. 2158, or the proposed “New Philippine Building Act,” which seeks to replace the 1977 National Building Code that he described as outdated and no longer aligned with modern engineering and safety standards.
Calling for transparency and immediate aid for the victims, Pangilinan emphasized the need for institutional reform.
“Our priority is the safety of our countrymen,” he said. “We owe it to the victims to uncover the truth behind this incident and craft laws and policies to prevent similar tragedies from happening in the future.” – With Ric Sapnu, Ramon Efren Lazaro, Emmanuel Tupas, Neil Jayson Servallos