ABS-CBN struggles to cope with ‘Wowowee’ tragedy

A week after the deadly "Wowowee" stampede in Pasig City that killed 71 people and injured more than 600 others, network giant ABS-CBN is still struggling to cope with mounting pressure to provide assistance to survivors and victims’ families as well as facing possible legal action.

"We are struggling. We are doing our best to help the victims of the tragedy," Tina Monzon-Palma, ABS-CBN spokeswoman, told a press forum yesterday, adding that the network had opened up its available resources.

As of yesterday, ABS-CBN had assisted in the burial of five victims. Twenty-nine others will be buried in the next two days.

The network has tapped its child support arm, Bantay Bata Foundation, to take charge of all operations related to assistance to stampede survivors and victims’ families.

Assistance funds will come from the network, Monzon-Palma said following questions from Presidential Chief of Staff Michael Defensor, who said ABS-CBN should shoulder the financial responsibility.

Monzon-Palma explained that the foundation’s funds are strictly for charity and it has stringent guidelines on how its resources are to be utilized.

"I would like to assure Malacañang that we are not using Bantay Bata funds," she said. "I would appreciate if we can talk on the phone and maybe I can explain to Malacañang what we are doing. I would like to assure the public the assistance provided to all the victims came from ABS-CBN."

She also emphasized that the network was not trying to escape possible legal action.

She denied reports that those who received assistance from the company were required to sign waivers. The signed documents, she said, were "acknowledgment receipts" for record purposes only.

ABS-CBN is still undecided about whether or not to resume broadcast of the "Wowowee" game show.

Monzon-Palma disclosed that organizers of the show, including its host Willie Revillame and some network personnel, had suffered emotional trauma.

Assistant state prosecutor Anthony Fadullon, who was also a guest at the press forum, said the Department of Justice would come up with initial findings on the tragedy once the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) concludes its probe on who — if anyone — should be held liable.

"It’s still premature to give any initial findings," Fadullon said.

Ferdinand Lavin, NBI executive officer for administration, said the government might press charges on behalf of survivors and victims’ families "because later on they might realize that they might want to settle the case."

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

Monzon-Palma said the broadcast giant would welcome the filing of the class-action suit, whose complainants are being assisted by an anti-crime civic organization, Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption.

Some 30,000 people had massed outside Philsports Arena to get into the stadium for the live broadcast of "Wowowee," in which huge prizes were to be offered to the audience. But the stadium could only accommodate 17,000 people.

Crowd members — some of whom had camped outside for days — broke through a metal gate, trampling over one another in the rush for tickets.

Fans had hoped to win jeepneys, houses or the top prize of P1 million, a special giveaway for the show’s one-year anniversary.

VACC chairman Dante Jimenez said some of the victims died of electrocution during the melee and asked the NBI to investigate.

"During the stampede several of the victims climbed the railings near the gate that was destroyed. There were reportedly live wires attached to the railings and to the gate," he said.

Yesterday, one woman who survived the stampede and was reported missing for three days surfaced and gave her statement to the NBI.

Fish vendor Carmen Balawag, 41, was injured in the commotion, which she largely blamed on the crowd.

"Some people were just shameless. One guard there was just unable to persuade the people to stop," she told investigators. She complained that someone even stole her P5,000 pocket money during the chaos.

Balawag had no intention of pressing charges, however, and said she came forward to help authorities learn the whole story.

She added she was willing to forgive and forget if given the opportunity to meet "Wowowee" host Revillame. Balawag also wants Revillame to visit her Muntinlupa City home.

Around 40 percent of Filipinos live on about P100 a day, and game shows like "Wowowee" that offer substantial prizes have a huge following.

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

The panel cited at least three unnamed ABS-CBN executives for negligence.

Interior Undersecretary Marius Corpus, the head of the panel, said ABS-CBN treated the thousands of "Wowowee" fans "like animals, 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.

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 NBI to conduct a more thorough probe to determine if there was wrongdoing. Officials said some details in the DILG report were still lacking before legal action could begin.

ABS-CBN demanded another "impartial investigation" into the stampede, noting that members of the DILG panel included police officials who ABS-CBN believes should also share in the blame for the tragedy.

Network officials maintain that the "Wowowee" 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 show.

In the letter, the organizers said they were anticipating a huge audience turnout beyond the stadium’s capacity and saw the potential for a stampede for tickets. — With Pia Lee-Brago, Rhodina Villanueva, Evelyn Macairan