Class suit poised vs ABS-CBN

Victims of last Saturday’s deadly stampede in Pasig City are now preparing to file a class action suit against network giant ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corp.

Victims’ relatives and survivors of the tragedy have made inquiries with Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption (VACC) and are seeking damages, said Dante Jimenez, chairman of the anti-crime watchdog.

"The victims are coming to ask and are seeking assistance. We are now looking into it and are monitoring the case," he told The STAR.

The VACC is studying whether they are qualified to seek claims for compensation with the Board of Claims of the Department of Justice as well as the possibility of filing criminal and civil charges against ABS-CBN.

About a hundred people have made inquiries with the VACC, Jimenez added.

However, the VACC says it is already seeing the possibility that those accountable may escape with relatively light punishment due to the minor penalties under the law.

"The law is weak for victims of this type of negligence," Jimenez noted, adding that Congress may have to review current laws that deal with cases like last Saturday’s stampede.

"We should increase penalties both in the criminal and civil aspects," he said, pointing out that the penalty for negligence in the penal code is two to six months’ imprisonment.

Nevertheless, the VACC will do all it can to help, Jimenez said. "We mourn over the senseless deaths of the stampede victims."

The VACC helped survivors and families of victims of two fires seek compensation in the past.

Survivors and relatives of victims of the March 1996 Ozone disco fire in Quezon City that killed 118 people, mostly teenagers, won their case against the owners, who were charged with reckless imprudence resulting in multiple homicide, in 2003.

Meanwhile, survivors and families of victims of a 1998 fire that razed an orphanage in Paco, Manila , killing 28 children, are still battling it out in the Office of the Ombudsman.

"The VACC assures its full support to the victims of the Ultra (the stadium’s former name) stampede incident in the same manner that it extended assistance to all victims of the Ozone and Paco fire tragedies," Jimenez said.

"Meanwhile, the VACC awaits further the investigation report being conducted by the Department of the Interior and Local Government and police authorities before proceeding with complaints from the various victims of this unfortunate incident."

Pasig City Mayor Vicente Eusebio admitted yesterday that its office issued a permit for the show but blamed its organizers, saying they did not coordinate with the police to ensure order.

He said the organizers expected that up to 30,000 would troop to Philsports Arena, which only has a seating capacity of 17,000.

"They lacked coordination. They did not include the police in their meeting. Their only request was to help them in managing the vehicular traffic," Eusebio told reporters.

He added the organizers shouldn’t have let people mass outside the stadium because they knew there was not enough room for everyone inside.

"They should have told them as early as Thursday that they could no longer get in because the crowd was already beyond capacity. But what the organizers did was (say) that not everyone can get in on the day of the show," said Eusebio, who co-chairs a task force investigating the tragedy.

Eusebio called for measures to prevent similar tragedies in the future, saying that the show’s organizers had inadequate plans to keep control of such a large crowd.

"It’s not enough that they (ABS-CBN) will only pay for hospitalization and burial expenses. It should be more than that because human lives were lost," he said.

Eusebio vowed to impose stricter conditions in issuing permits to show organizers. "In the future, organizers of such shows would be asked to submit their plan for crowd control and they should coordinate fully with the chief of police of the city," he said.

A Philsports Arena security guard told investigators that ABS-CBN’s security guards, employed by Gold Link security agency, were in charge and that the stadium security guards served as backup.

"The security guards of Gold Link brought in by ABS-CBN were in control of the gate (where the stampede occurred). We were there only to assist them," said Salvador Sali, 28, of Kemen security agency.

ABS-CBN’s guards tried their best to pacify the crowd while some of the game show personnel were distributing tickets.

Sali told investigators that there were not enough guards to keep the crowd in order.

"We saw that many were pushing and shoving at the gate. And then we saw the stampede in the rush to get inside," he recalled.

Chief Superintendent Oscar Valenzuela, head of Task Force Ultra investigating team, said there were about 100 security guards assigned to secure the area. Twenty-three of them were deployed at the gate.

However, ABS-CBN’s Jan. 17 letter to Eusebio showed that the show’s organizers did ask the city government for security assistance.

"We will deploy 60 security guards and 15 VIP escorts while the Philippine Sports Commission will also deploy 60 security guards. But we believe we cannot handle the peace and order alone. We humbly request your office and the office of the chief of police of Pasig City, the Traffic and Parking Management Office and the help of the barangay officials from Brgy. Orambo for the deployment of police personnel, traffic enforcers and tanods," the letter stated, a copy of which was obtained by The STAR.

The permit, signed by Eusebio, was granted on Jan. 24. A copy of the permit was furnished to the police.

Further, a Philippine National Police memo signed by Senior Superintendent Raul Medina, Pasig City police chief, showed that police units were ordered to secure the site. The memo was issued Jan. 18, a day after ABS-CBN sent its letter to Eusebio.

Commanders were ordered to work with barangay officials. At least three squad cars were to conduct patrols around the venue. SWAT and bomb disposal units were also ordered to deploy as well as traffic officers.

The chief of the police intelligence division was ordered to "deploy sufficient number of personnel to provide covert security inside and outside the engagement area."

All units were to be at the area two hours "before the start of the activity for attendance and briefing by the ground commander."