Pasig police partly to blame for stampede, says lawmaker

Local and police officials of Pasig City are partly to blame for the deadly weekend stampede at the "Wowowee" game show that left 74 people dead and hundreds injured, the city’s congressman, Robert Jaworski Jr., said yesterday.

Aside from possible criminal charges filed by the Department of Justice, ABS-CBN, the show’s presenter, is facing a possible class suit from stampede survivors and families of the victims.

ABS-CBN spokeswoman and news anchor Tina Monzon-Palma said the broadcast giant would welcome the class-action suit.

Last Wednesday, ABS-CBN demanded another "impartial investigation" into the stampede, noting that members of a panel formed by the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), which probed the incident, included police officials who ABS-CBN believes should also share the blame for the tragedy.

Jaworski believes Pasig City’s local and police officials were partly responsible.

"They knew that thousands upon thousands of people from Metro Manila and the provinces were massing at the Philsports area, and they should have helped ABS-CBN personnel control the huge crowd without being asked to," he said.

He added that it was the responsibility of city and police officials to maintain peace and order in the area where the celebration was to take place.

ABS-CBN asked for police assistance, but that the Pasig police sent only 30 officers, Jaworski said.

ABS-CBN officials had maintained that Wowowee’s organizers did all they could to ensure safety.

They pointed to the network’s Jan. 17 letter to Pasig City Mayor Vicente Eusebio seeking a permit for the game show. In the letter, the show’s organizers said they were anticipating a huge audience turnout beyond the stadium’s capacity and saw a possible stampede for tickets.

"We will be setting up an iron barricade and sound system in order to avoid stampede and or any untoward incident," ABS-CBN stated in its letter, a copy of which was obtained by The STAR.

Earlier, a fact-finding panel formed by the DILG concluded that ABS-CBN failed to provide security for fans and could be held criminally liable for the tragedy.

Interior Undersecretary Marius Corpus, head of the panel, said ABS-CBN treated thousands of Wowowee fans "like animals, (who were) made to suffer inconveniences and made to fight for raffle tickets."

Corpus later apologized for the statement after ABS-CBN chief executive Eugenio Lopez III expressed outrage.

"While we acknowledge that we may have possibly have had shortcomings, a callous and malicious disregard for the people is not one of them," he said in a televised address.

Corpus submitted his panel’s findings earlier this week to the justice department, which will now determine if charges are warranted.

The DOJ has tasked the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to conduct a more thorough probe to determine if there was wrongdoing. Officials said details in the DILG report were incomplete for legal action to begin.

Willie to be questioned

Wowowee host Willie Revillame will be among those who will be questioned by the NBI, Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez said.

Gonzalez conceded that Revillame did not have overall control but was still involved. He pointed out that Revillame visited the show’s venue three days before the show’s taping on Saturday.

"He said he visited the place three times, three nights. So therefore he should know what was the situation on the ground," Gonzalez told a press briefing. There was no immediate comment from Revillame.

Two congressmen, Surigao del Sur’s Prospero Pichay Jr. and Ilocos Sur’s Salacnib Baterina, called for caution on the part of investigators against making premature statements about their inquiry.

Pichay said statements and conclusions should be made only after a thorough gathering of evidence and an extensive investigation.

He also lauded Lopez for owning responsibility for the tragedy. "We laud Mr. Gabby Lopez for being man enough to assume responsibility."

Baterina said government investigators should be more judicious in inquiring into the stampede lest they jeopardize the goal of giving justice to the victims and to avoid suspicion that they are injecting politics into the investigation.

"The probe must be propelled by professionalism to adhere to all legal processes," he said, emphasizing that Corpus should have avoided his "emotional outburst."

Baterina was referring to rumors that the Lopez clan was having a falling out with President Arroyo over the vote-rigging allegations hounding her since June.

ABS-CBN is also facing a possible class-action suit from stampede survivors and victims’ families, who have sought help from a civic organization, Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption.

The anti-crime watchdog group is also determining if others were at fault. "We (are) not closed only to one, let’s say the organizers (of the show). We think many are responsible," said VACC founder Dante Jimenez. He personally believes that the police could have helped prevent the tragedy.

The VACC has started gathering complaints and will set up a desk at Philsports Arena for the purpose. So far, only 10 have submitted complaints.

"We are now in the process of evaluating information that we gathered," said Jimenez. "We told the victims that they can no longer air their complaints only by phone, by text and just by mere words. They should be written because the battle will be in court."

ABS-CBN spokeswoman Monzon-Palma said the company would welcome the suit.

"Wherever the courts go, as far as this investigation is going to go, we will accept full responsibility and accountability for all the actions we took," she told a press briefing. "If there is someone who is not grateful for the help we have provided, they have the right to get together for a class suit and we will respond to that."

Monzon-Palma said the station was continuing to provide financial assistance for the relatives of the deceased and the over 600 injured.

"We have covered practically all their needs in this period ... from the time they were taken to the hospital to the time they were taken to the funeral home," she said. "We are not pointing fingers at anyone here. We are saying, we are the ones, we invited them."

Monzon-Palma denied reports that ABS-CBN had asked stampede survivors and victims’ families to sign waivers to avoid possible legal action against the company.

"It was never meant to fool them. It was properly explained to them by the social worker," she said.

Jimenez advised survivors and victims’ families — who are mostly from urban poor communities — against signing documents they don’t understand.

"Some of them said they just signed anyway. But we told them to refer the documents first to those who understand so there will be no problems later on," he said.

Gonzalez said the assistance ABS-CBN extended to stampede survivors and victims’ families showed the company’s "good faith."

Some 30,000 people had massed outside Philsports Arena to get into the live airing of Wowowee, where huge prizes were being offered to the live audience. But the stadium could only accommodate 17,000 people.

The crowd broke through a metal gate, trampling upon one another. — With Cecille Suerte Felipe, Aurea Calica, Jose Rodel Clapano, Christina Mendez, Eva Visperas, AFP