Authorities are recommending the prosecution of 17 individuals, including top executives of ABS-CBN along with television host Willie Revillame in connection with the Feb. 4 stampede at the PhilSports Arena (formerly Ultra) in Pasig City that resulted in the death of 71 persons.
NBI acting Director Nestor Mantaring also recommended the filing of administrative sanctions against Pasig City Mayor Vicente Eusebio with the Department of Interior and Local Government for his role in issuing the permit for the holding of the event.
Mantaring said Eusebio should have required ABS-CBN to submit a contingency plan before issuing a permit for the show.
Also charged for reckless imprudence resulting in multiple homicide and multiple physical injuries were Charo Santos-Concio, executive vice president of ABS-CBN and head of the network’s Entertainment Group; Maria Socorro Vidanes, senior vice president for television production; Marilou Almaden, executive producer; Cipriano Luspo, assistant vice president and head of security of ABS-CBN; Moly Stewart, Wow-wow-wee executive producer and manager; Harold James Nueva, associate producers for sets and technical; Norberto Vidanes, Wow-wow-wee director; Rey Cayabyab, assistant location manager and security coordinator; Francisco Rivera, ABS-CBN’s location manager; Mel Feliciano, the show’s assistant director and Jean Owen Garcia, floor director.
Also facing charges are engineer Jess Velardo, Ultra building administrator; Erlinda Reis, booking and events coordinator of Ultra; Rosenbar Viloria, staff director for operations of Goldlink Security and Allied Services Inc.; Wilfron Onanad and Chito Payumo, both security-in-charge of Goldlink.
NBI-NCR Director Ruel Lasala said their findings against the 17 persons facing charges are a result of the bureau’s month-long investigation on the basis of the complaint of close to a thousand victims and their families.
Lasala cited the lack of foresight on the part of the respondents that resulted in the tragic incident, noting that as early as Jan. 30, 31, Feb. 1, 2 and 3, thousands of people started to flock to Ultra.
“ABS-CBN should have come out with comprehensive security plan, including the contingency plan and crowd management plan, in anticipation of the thousands of audience trooping to Ultra for Wow-wow-wee’s first anniversary,” Lasala said.
He added even at the emergency meeting held on the eve of Feb. 3, only ABS-CBN staffs were invited while the Philippine National Police and the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) were not included in that caucus.
In an earlier report of a panel of prosecutors of the Department of Justice, they included the police and MMDA chairman Bayani Fernando as among those criminally and administratively liable for the stampede for failing to handle the peace and order in that event.
But in the NBI probe, the culpability of the police and the MMDA was dropped since they were not invited to the crowd control planning on Feb. 3.
In a statement sent to the NBI, Revillame maintained his innocence, saying he was a mere talent of ABS-CBN and that he was “not involved in the various logistics and preparations” for his game show.
While he admitted he did visit the stadium several times before Feb. 4, he clarified he was unaware of the state of the crowd because the areas he visited were select and limited.
But the NBI said Revillame could not escape liability when in fact he tried to entice the public to attend their anniversary special by claiming they would give out millions of pesos in prizes.
Concio, for her part, defended herself by saying she was “not involved in the details of the planning of the 1st anniversary show of the program Wow-wow-wee.”
“In view of my functions and duties as executive vice president and head of the entertainment group, I cannot be involved in any aspect of the day-to-day operations of the many entertainment programs produced or being prepared by the television production department.”
The NBI has submitted its recommendation to the DoJ for preliminary investigation next week.
Re: ABS-CBN cited negligence of incident.....
Originally Posted by iloveyou4ever
dapat magbayad nalang ang ABS CBN ug 2 million sa mga casualty sa stampede, 1 million sa mga seriously wounded, 500k sa mga uban pa nga victims. What do we expect nga ma absuwelto ang mga police? I mean, in our country they are top 3 most corrupt og crooked kaayo ila policy. hoy abs cbn, hatagi na sila ug bayad!
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