The Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) asked owners and administrators of establishments offering live telecast of Sunday’s fight between Filipino boxing champion Manny Pacquiao and British fighter Ricky Hatton to make sure their emergency exits are not padlocked and appropriate signages are in place to guide the public in case of any untoward incident.
The BFP made the call after an inspection on some cinemas and sports centers in the National Capital Region (NCR) that will show the Pacquiao-Hatton bout showed violations of the Fire Safety Code.
BFP officials said it is the responsibility of establishment owners and administrators to ensure the safety of their patrons.
However, the inspection conducted by the fire bureau showed that there were some cinemas that do not have sufficient emergency exit signages.
In other cases, the BFP officials noted that the emergency exit door of some sports centers were padlocked.
The BFP decided to conduct the inspection to ensure public safety as thousands are expected to troop to venues where the Pacquiao-Hatton fight will be shown Sunday.
The bureau officials advised the public to look for another venue if they see that the place where they initially went to watch the fight is already filled with spectators.
“Or better yet, they might as well stay at home and watch the fight together with their family since it will also be shown on TV. They can also tune in to their radio if they really want live monitoring of the Pacquiao-Hatton fight,” a BFP official said.
