Courting disaster

Disasters do happen and our country has a big share of them. Among the unforgettable ones due to its magnitude in terms of lives lost and properties damaged or destroyed are: the ill fated sinking of an overloaded inter island vessel (MV Doña Paz) along the Tablas Straits in Marinduque in Christmas 1987 that made our country a world record holder of the worst maritime disaster because of more than 4,000 lives lost; the devastating earthquake of 1990 that hit Central and Northern Luzon also claiming thousands of lives and destroying hundreds of millions of properties; the Mount Pinatubo eruption that left the provinces of Zambales, Bataan, and Pampanga barren, desolate and buried in ashes; the Ormoc mudslides that claimed thousands of lives in Leyte; the raging flood that buried the towns and numerous townfolks of Infanta, Real and Aurora in Quezon and Gabaldon in Nueva Ecija; the Paco fire that claimed the lives of helpless children; the Ozone Disco fire; and the most recent Philsports Arena stampede involving more than 30,000 fans of Wowowee that claimed 74 lives.

Man is indeed constantly exposed to events causing great damage, injury or loss of life. These events are either man made or caused by nature or both. When they are solely due to natural causes, they are categorized in law as fortuitous events or events which cannot be reasonably foreseen or even if foreseen cannot be avoided. Hence damage or loss is inevitable and nobody can be blamed. Such natural calamities like lightning, typhoons, inundations, volcano eruptions, and earthquakes are unpreventable although their damage and losses can be minimized with adequate disaster preparedness. On the other hand, man made disasters and disasters partly due to nature and human fault or negligence are preventable and therefore blamable on some persons or entities. It is these kinds of disasters that finger pointing is made and culpabilities are laid. The maritime collision involving Doña Paz, the Paco fire, the Ozone disco and the Ultra stampede can be categorized as purely man made, while the Ormoc and Quezon landslides are examples of disasters caused by nature but with human element of neglect or fault due to illegal logging.

Pursuant to law, whoever by act or omission causes damage to another, there being fault or negligence, is liable for the damage done (Article 2176, Civil Code). Fault or negligence is failure to exercise that degree of care rendered appropriate by the particular circumstances and which a man of ordinary prudence in the same situation and with equal experience would not have omitted (Black's Law Dictionary). When fire breaks out right at the opening valve of the underground storage tank of a Gasoline Station while gasoline is being hosed into it from a tank trunk, there is lack of due care or negligence on the part of the gasoline station owner (Africa vs. Caltex, G.R. 12986, March 31, 1966). This is the civil aspect of the liability.

But if there is such a flagrant and reckless disregard of the safety of others or willful indifference to the material damage that is likely to follow resulting in personal injury or death, the negligent act becomes a felony or crime with a corresponding penalty of imprisonment depending on the gravity of the offense. This negligence is called reckless imprudence when there is inexcusable lack of precaution on the part of the person performing or failing to perform an act. It is simple imprudence when the lack of precaution is displayed in cases where the impending damage to be caused is not immediate nor the danger clearly manifest (Article 365 Revised Penal Code).

Of course negligence must be the proximate cause of the death or injury. Proximate cause is that which in a natural and continuous sequence unbroken by any efficient intervening cause, produces the injury and without which the result would not have occurred. It is not necessarily the immediate or nearest cause in point of time and space but in causal relation it is nearer to the result since without it, the death or injury would not have occurred.

In the Wowowee stampede that claimed 74 lives the proximate cause can be said to be those people in the crowded queue that triggered the mad rush to the gate in a frenzied effort to get tickets to the show. In such a huge gathering, it is admittedly quite difficult if not impossible to identify them although the police could have conducted a much deeper and thorough investigation by questioning some survivors right where the stampede occurred. The probe conducted by the DILG task force is so superficial and seems to be an attempt to deflect responsibility towards other parties particularly the organizer of the show. It has the same pattern as the previous disaster inquests like the Doña Paz tragedy where the Coast Guard itself conducted the probe and obviously pointed fingers at other parties in an effort to extricate itself from possible culpability. It has always been the government's way of handling disasters. Hence up to now, such manmade disasters like the recent stampede have not been prevented when they are easily preventable. We seem to persist in courting disaster rather than avoiding it.

The organizers (ABS CBN and some of its people) may really have some responsibility. But their culpability is not as serious and felonious as it is pictured. They may, or should have, foreseen or become aware of specific danger in such a huge crowd and their negligence may consist in failing to take steps to avoid it. In fact even before all the facts are in, their Chairman Gabby Lopez had already come out with a statement that they will not evade responsibility if found liable after due process. In a land where denials and finger pointing are in vogue, such a gesture is rare and commendable indeed.

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