A Malaysian national and a Filipino construction worker are among the two confirmed fatalities in the collapse of a nine-storey building under construction in Barangay Balibago, Angeles City, Pampanga, with search and rescue operations still underway as of early Monday.
The second victim — a male — was retrieved from the debris past midnight Monday and was later declared dead after emergency responders failed to revive him. The Bureau of Fire Protection–Central Luzon confirmed the fatality. The first to die was a 65-year-old Malaysian guest with disability who had been staying at a nearby apartelle that was struck by debris from the collapsing structure.
The building went down at approximately 3:00 a.m. on Sunday, May 24, trapping construction workers who had been asleep inside. The structure crumbled after a fierce thunderstorm hit the area. A delivery rider on the same street at the time told Agence France-Presse he initially thought the sound was an earthquake.
According to the ACDRRMO, 26 people were rescued — 24 from the collapsed structure itself and two others from the adjacent apartelle struck by falling debris. The office reported a total of 47 individuals affected, with rescue teams continuing to search for those still unaccounted for as of 3:00 a.m. Monday.
Public Works Secretary Vince Dizon, who was dispatched to the site by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., confirmed rescuers had detected signs of life beneath the wreckage. “Our priority is to get the trapped victims out. The rescue operation will be done manually,” he told reporters. He also cautioned that ground conditions remained precarious. “It’s a very very unstable site and the priority is to get the people out,” he added.
About 700 rescuers — including firefighters, police, and disaster-response teams — used their hands and sniffer dogs to carefully sift through a mass of concrete slabs, twisted iron bars, and aluminum scaffolding.
Angeles City Mayor Carmelo “Jon” Lazatin II urged the building’s owner — identified as a certain “Mr. Lim” — to send a representative to help determine the exact number of workers present when the structure fell. However, documents obtained by the Inquirer showed the building permit was issued to Golden Years Construction and Steelworks, a Malabon-based firm.
Akbayan Party president Rafaela David called for accountability in the wake of the disaster. “No worker should ever have to put their life on the line just to earn a living,” she said. “Those responsible must be held accountable, and stronger protections must be put in place to ensure that every Filipino worker can come home safely to their families.”
