Child doing OK, now playing with tablet

The six-year-old boy who fell off the 2nd floor of the SM City Cebu mall is slowly recovering from his injuries, his father told reporters yesterday.

Engr. Raul Horca said results of the CT scan on his son Rhian Samuel Horca showed bruises and a fracture on his right cheek, but no severe injuries. He said it was a miracle his son was not seriously hurt.

“His condition is okay. He can sit up. He’s already playing with his tablet (computer),” Engr. Horca said. Rhian’s operation is scheduled today. As of Wednesday evening, Engr. Horca said their bills already reached P30,000 and he spent P2,000 for medicines.

“Wala mi’y plano nga moreklamo kun tumanon lang ang kasabotan (We won’t file charges if SM management honors our agreement),” he said. Horca said SM’s operations manager and company nurse had been following-up developments on his son’s case.

Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama said he read about the incident in the newspapers and is happy that the boy sustained only minor injuries.

“I don’t know about the circumstances but I’m happy that the child survived,” he told Cebu Daily News.

SM management earlier said they are paying the child’s medical expenses.

The victim ran and slammed into the glass panel on the upper ground floor, causing him to fall to the lower ground floor.

Cebu City Hall’s Office of the Building Official (OBO) is reviving a plan to conduct annual inspections of commercial establishments to ensure the are safety of mall habitués and occupants.

City Engineer Jose Marie Poblete said he is also sending inspectors to check the accident site. But he clarified that the inspectors will only examine the structural design of the portion of the mall where the child fell.

He said he may recommend some measures which mall management may adopt.

“Looking into liability is a police matter so we will just leave it to the police to do,” Poblete said.

Poblete said he already met with OBO personnel about two weeks ago, even before the SM mall accident occurred, to discuss annual inspection of commercial establishments. He said the city no longer bothers to check on structures located within its jurisdiction after the issuance of building and occupancy permits unless there’s a request to do so.

Poblete said the OBO only has two engineers each in its electrical, mechanical, architectural, plumbing and electronics sections who also verify applications for building and occupancy permits.

OBO is a division of the Department of Engineering and Public Works (DEPW).