THE family of the factory worker who died while cleaning a pulverizing machine at a food and beverage manufacturing plant in Mandaue City is accusing the plant’s management of refusing to cooperate in the investigation on his death.
Related story: Mandaue factory worker dies while working; police to probe incident
Bonifacio Corilla, the father of factory worker Stephen Corilla, told SunStar Cebu on Tuesday, June 7, 2022, that they are seeking the assistance of the National Bureau of Investigation in Central Visayas (NBI 7) in order to seek justice for his son’s untimely death.
Bonifacio further claimed that officials of Universal Robina Corp. (URC), owner of the plant, had never approached them nor provided assistance to them following his son’s death.
Stephen, 32, was reportedly cleaning the pulverizing machine at URC’s plant in Barangay Tabok, Mandaue City on Thursday, June 2, when he was accidentally killed after someone turned on the machine while he was still inside it.
Bonifacio said he was still in shock following his son’s death.
Bonifacio last saw his son alive two weeks ago.
He recalled how Stephen was so excited to work at the URC plant as a contractual employee. Stephen wanted to make use of his experience as he had a plan to work abroad, Bonifacio said.
Autopsy report
Bonifacio said he had demanded URC to provide them with Stephen’s autopsy report but the plant had never provided him with a copy.
Police also had a hard time investigating the incident as URC officials refused to allow them to enter the plant’s premises without prior approval from their management.
Bonifacio’s daughter, Bevz, said in a Facebook post that she plans to seek justice for her brother’s death and urged authorities to investigate the people behind the incident.
Bevz claimed that Stephen would not have ended up cleaning the plant’s pulverizing machine if not for one of the plant’s supervisors who allegedly ordered him to do so even though it was not her brother’s job.
Stephen is a resident of Sitio Tac-an, Barangay Budlaan in Cebu City. He left a wife and three children ages 12, 7, and 5 years old.
In its statement issued on June 6, URC confirmed Stephen’s death inside its plant.
“It is with great sadness that we confirm the passing of one of our third-party workers due to an incident at the workplace that is now being investigated. We are fully cooperating with the authorities in this effort. Our prayers and condolences go to his loved ones. Through his agency we have reached out to the bereaved family to offer our assistance,” it said.