Your correspondent would not have had anywhere to post from had a fire that broke out at the House of Representatives been serious, and not just trolling.

Although the House has its own firetrucks, much like many of the congressmen at the House, they do not work:

House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr., however, was dismayed after fire trucks inside the Batasan Pambansa complex which responded to the incident were (found) not functioning.

“I just want to find out why nobody is saying or even informed us that the fire truck is not functioning but I am unhappy,” Belmonte said.

Belmonte has reportedly summoned the House’s engineering department to explain. Fire trucks from nearby barangays Commonwealth and Fairview were first on the scene even though, technically, House fire trucks were already there.

House Secretary General Marilyn Barua-Yap said there was no actual fire.

In a text message, she said the smoke was caused by faulty wiring inside the electrical box near the building’s elevator.

As a result of the incident, House employees whose offices were affected by the power-line spark were sent home.

Barua-Yap said personnel from the House engineering department and the Quezon City fire department were fixing the situation as of posting time.

Members of the House, on vacation when the incident happened, cursed at the ill timing of the potentially convenient excuse to skip the afternoon legislative session.

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(thx, House Indio)