Justice for Stephen Corilla!

Stephen Corilla died in his workplace while cleaning inside a pulverizing machine. His family and all those who love him cry for justice! Universal Robina Corporation's (URC) refusal to let the police enter the premises to investigate the circumstances surrounding his death produces more questions than answers.

On June 2, and around 1 p.m. this year, Corilla was told to clean the pulverizing machine. The machine was turned on while the victim was still inside it, resulting in his death. It is said that the switch was far from him. The inevitable questions are: Who switched it on? Was it intentional or purely accidental? If it was intentional, then it was murder. But if it was accidental, then certainly there was negligence. Either way, it was a medico-legal case. Hence, the police have to conduct a fair and objective investigation on the matter.

The next questions are: Why did URC's Mandaue City Plant not allow the police to immediately enter the workplace to investigate? Could you imagine a medico-legal case happened on June 2, yet the police were only allowed to enter the crime scene on June 7? Was the company hiding something or had to clean the pieces of evidence available on the day the incident occurred?

As per report, the company relied on the approval of its “consultant” on the entry or non-entry of the police authorities. That is mind boggling. In the company's hierarchy of officials and responsibilities, can we hold the consultant responsible for such a “decision”? We know that consultants give advice, but they do not render decisions. We can only speculate that the officers of the company who ought to take full responsibility for such decision tried to shift that responsibility to the consultant.

Another angle worth looking into is this: Why did the police fail to insist on entering the site, given the fact that an incident was already reported to them and that they were duty-bound to investigate it? Death already occurred, a crime had been committed, or a medico-legal case happened, so what was stopping our policemen from insisting on their duty in going inside?

Certainly, this was not the first time that our policemen investigated an incident or crime that occurred inside an establishment. Can it now be said that our policemen can barge into the houses of ordinary people but not into buildings of big corporations?

The Department of Labor of Employment must also come in in order to ascertain whether or not URC followed standard regulations on safe workplaces. To date, DOLE has issued already a temporary stoppage order against URC.

In its statement, URC said that Corilla was one of its “third-party workers”. This means that he was hired by an agency. But what exactly was his job description or what was the actual tasks he performed during his work? He cannot just be called an agency worker as he performed tasks directly related to the business of the company.

“Our prayers and condolences go to his loved ones,” the company said. But more than expressions of condolences, in my view, must be answers to the questions that are in the mind of the public and in everyone's sense of justice.

Corilla left a wife and two children, his mother, relatives, workmates, and friends, all troubled by the circumstances surrounding his death. Justice must be served.