ABS-CBN executive outraged by report

In a rare public appearance, the head of network giant ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corp. vowed yesterday to take full responsibility for the deadly weekend stampede before the taping of the "Wowowee" variety show.

But ABS-CBN chairman and chief executive officer Eugenio "Gabby" Lopez III said he was "outraged" by the statement of the panel investigating the tragedy that the ABS-CBN program treated people "like animals."

"I am responsible and I will hold myself accountable should our justice system so determine in the future. There will be no whitewash. We will continue to work with the government and all its agencies," Lopez said in a statement read in a televised address, three days after the tragedy that left 74 people dead.

"Having said that — we are outraged at the task force statement characterizing our program as one where we treated people like animals. Our record over the last 30 years speaks for itself. We have covered events — some (with) over 100,000 (participants) — over the years."

He added that "while we acknowledge that we may have possibly have had shortcomings, a callous and malicious disregard for the people is not one of them."

Interior Undersecretary Marius Corpus, the head of the investigating panel, said the huge crowd that turned out for the show "was enticed and made to suffer all sorts of inconveniences and, in that sense, were exploited, manipulated, treated like animals."

Offering only a few tickets to people who had lined up for days was "like throwing a small slice of meat to a hungry pack of wolves and that triggered the stampede," he said.

Corpus told reporters that his panel’s findings named at least three ABS-CBN officials who could face charges of negligence.

He and Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez refused to disclose the names pending the Department of Justice’s evaluation of the findings.

The report singled out the network’s head of security, the show’s production manager, assistant location manager and associate producer as directly responsible for ensuring safety at the venue.

A member of the fact-finding inquiry, however, felt that the number of people being held accountable should go "all the way up."

"They should know what their people are doing," he said.

Pasig City Mayor Vicente Eusebio had earlier blamed "Wowowee"’s 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, clearly beyond the stadium’s capacity.

"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.

However, ABS-CBN’s Jan. 17 letter to Eusebio showed that the show’s organizers did request 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 deployments of police personnel, traffic enforcers and tanods," the letter, a copy of which was obtained by The STAR, stated.

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 coordinate 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."

The findings of the investigating panel did not state if the police had provided the requested security. — Cecille Suerte Felipe