|
Thursday, February 09, 2006
Justice department rejects stampede report as 'incomplete'
MANILA -- The Department of Justice dismissed Wednesday as "inadequate" a report of a fact-finding team that looked into last Saturday's deadly stampede in Pasig City and asked the National Bureau of Investigation to conduct a more extensive inquiry into the incident.
Chief State Prosecutor Jovencito Zuño initially said the justice department will return the document back to the Ultra Task Force Wednesday because the evidence it presented was incomplete and not enough for the prosecution panel to proceed with the preliminary investigation.
"We are not supposed to conduct another fact-finding inquiry," Zuño said, noting that it would affect the impartiality of the prosecutors in the case build-up.
But after consulting other government prosecutors, the justice department said it will no longer return the report to the Department of Interior and Local Government and will just ask the NBI to make a deeper inquiry on tragedy that resulted in the death of 74 people and injuries to more than 300 others.
Last Monday, the NBI furnished the justice department a copy of its independent report on the incident at the Philippine Sports Commission (formerly Ultra) Arena.
The same report was collated by the interior department and included in its fact-finding report submitted Tuesday to the justice department for evaluation.
In that report, the NBI pointed out that the organizers did nothing about the sudden swelling of the people to 30,000 outside Philsports since Friday night even if they knew that the capacity of the venue was only 17,000.
Assistant Chief State Prosecutor Richard Anthony Fadullon said the fact-finding team's data gathering was limited because it was given only 72 hours to complete its report.
Fadullon said the NBI can look at other possible angles that may have been overlooked by investigators.
"I would say that they did their best, given the timeframe given to them. It's a comparatively good report but as to whether or not it was exhaustive, it's a different story altogether," Fadullon said.
He also said the DILG report was basically just a narration of what transpired from day one until the day of stampede.
"It's not as simple as saying na, 'Sir, kasi maraming namatay, maraming nasugatan, kasuhan na tin (that Sir, many people died, many others were wounded so we should file a case).' Everything should be based on evidence, we cannot base it on what people say, what other people's opinions are, how people perceived it to be. As far as we are concerned, we can only proceed if there is evidence and without evidence, regardless of what people have to say, wala kaming magagawa (we cannot do anything). Kailangang may ebidensya kami (We need to have evidence) to support the conduct of preliminary investigation," he said.
Fadullon said the interior department should specify whether the report it submitted was an actual complaint, in which case, it should specify the names and addresses of the people as well as their possible liabilities.
He said that for the prosecution of the case to move, it should have attached more documents such as the medical certificates, affidavits, sworn statements and pictures of the victims.
"Meron silang sinasabi (They have mentioned) who may be responsible for the incident pero (but) they did not even specify the names of those people who may be responsible but just the position of these people. They should specify talaga kung talagang complaint iyan (if it is really a complaint). Eh report lang ito, hindi (This is just a report, not) filing (of a complaint)," he said.
Local Government Undersecretary Marius Corpus submitted Task Force Ultra's report to the justice department Tuesday, citing three organizers of the ABS-CBN noontime television game show "Wowowee" as liable for reckless imprudence resulting to multiple homicide, and multiple physical injury.
Without giving names, Corpus identified the show's production manager, assistant location manager, and assistant producer. Later on, he also mentioned that the head of security of the Philsports Arena committed lapses that resulted in the tragedy.
A panel headed by Senior State Prosecutor Leo Dacera was convened by Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez Sr. to evaluate the findings of the task force. The panel was given a week to determine who would be subpoenaed for preliminary investigation.
Gonzalez said although only the three ABS-CBN executives have been cited in the report, the level of culpability could reach the Lopezes, owners of the network.
It also wasn't clear yet if game show host Willie Revillame is among those in the list of liable individuals, after it was learned that he induced the attendance of the audience by claiming huge gift surprises such as a house and lot package worth P2.5 million and a passenger jeepney for the winners.
Corpus said one of the organizers cited in the report was responsible for announcing to the audience outside the stadium that remaining tickets would just be raffled off, inciting people to rush in.
He also said offering the entry tickets to the audience was the trigger that started the stampede. (ECV/Sunnex)
(February 9, 2006 issue)
Write letter to the editor. Click here.
Join the Sun.Star message board. Click here. |
|
|
|
[return to top]
[home]
|
|
