Wednesday, October 03, 2007 ABS-CBN fires 3 employees
TELEVISION network ABS-CBN fired three of its five employees who squabbled with Senior Insp. Jose Liddawa after a traffic accident at dawn last Sept. 17.
The management, who announced their decision during TV Patrol Central Visayas last night, said that reporter Ramil Paican, cameraman Joel Noel and driver Samuel Trangia were dismissed for dishonesty. It said that the three violated the network’s Code of Conduct and Ethics.
Meanwhile, cameramen Robert Abañes and Allan Almendras were directed to explain why they failed to report to the management the full facts of the incident.
Almendras was the one recording the incident on tape while Abañes was on board the news van. The video did not show him participating in the brawl.
Paican and Noel have served the network for 14 years.
Noel, according to the report, accepted the management’s decision. In a statement over sister-station dyAB’s “Arangkada”, Noel asked for forgiveness from Liddawa.
But Liddawa’s camp is not happy with the decision.
“We are not happy because it is too harsh, suspension is enough. What will happen to their families? Their length of service should be considered but if management stands by its decision, it would be good if they can give financial assistance in the spirit of Christmas,” said Liddawa’s lawyer, Noel Archival.
“We are sorry. We did not intend to hurt them.”
The termination was the result of the internal investigation, which proved that Paican and companions omitted some facts in the report they aired last Sept. 18.
According to the crew’s first report on the incident, Liddawa and the TV crew got out of their vehicles after their cars collided. In the argument, Liddawa punched Noel and also confronted Paican.
Incomplete
The footage, which later aired nationwide, showed Liddawa yelling at the news crew that he was a policeman.
That report said that Liddawa fell on the ground and lost consciousness because he was drunk and that the TV crew drove him to a private hospital in Cebu City. It did not show the crew hitting the police officer.
The next day, lawyer Archival urged ABS-CBN to show the unedited footage.
Archival said that his client was beaten up first and was provoked, prompting him to defend himself and identify himself as a policeman.
Liddawa suffered bruises on his face and body and was admitted to the intensive care unit of the Chong Hua Hospital as a result of the beating.
He then filed a complaint against the crew before the network’s management.
But an insider told Sun.Star Cebu that even before Archival issued the statement, the management was already looking into the incident.
A week after the incident, ABS-CBN aired the longer footage, which showed that Liddawa threw the first punch at Noel, who did not fight back. It was when he punched Noel again that the cameraman, Paican and Trangia began hitting Liddawa.
A man later identified as PO1 Calixto Perez showed up and stopped the fight from escalating. (KNT)
