MANILA, Philippines - Police investigators are building up a case against those who may be responsible for the death of five persons during a 10-hour concert in Pasay City over the weekend, an official said yesterday.
Senior Superintendent Joel Doria, Pasay police chief, told The STAR that crime scene investigators have processed areas of the parking lot of the SM Mall of Asia, the venue of the Closeup Forever Summer concert, where the five victims were found.
He also said they are gathering sworn statements from witnesses that could shed light on the circumstances that led to the victims’ deaths.
Doria said witnesses said one of the victims, Bianca Fontejon, 18, was dancing and drinking water from a bottle that had been passed around by still unidentified persons at around midnight Saturday.
NBI: No actual drugs seen
Due to the large crowd, National Bureau of Investigation agents deployed to check the event for suppliers of party drugs “failed to see any actual sale of drugs,” said lawyer Joel Tovera of the NBI’s anti-illegal drug unit.
Pasay police reported that around 14,000 people attended the event.
The NBI’s medico-legal division said victims Lance Garcia, 36, and Fontejon died of “massive heart failure.”
Among the other victims were Ariel Leal, 22; Ken Migawa, 18; and Eric Anthony Miller, 33, an American.
They were rushed to different hospitals “after experiencing difficulty in breathing” and they “eventually collapsed,” according to a Pasay police report.
Investigators are verifying reports that some of the attendees took a party drug called “amore” or “green amore,” a capsule that may contain a cocktail of shabu, cocaine or ecstasy.
The NBI’s medico-legal division is waiting for the families of the five victims to consent before releasing the autopsy and toxicology reports.
Symptoms point to drug use
Health Secretary Janette Garin brushed aside talk that the victims suffered from heat stroke. The party started at around 3 p.m. Saturday and ended at around 3 a.m. the next day.
“The symptoms they manifested – sweating, difficult in breathing and fast heartbeat – can usually be triggered by something they have drunk… We know the police is investigating this. We would await results,” she said.
Garin said the Department of Health is not part of the investigation. She underscored the need to identify the source of the drug cocktail that the victims may have taken.
“It’s okay to party but there should be some limits… There should be strict precautions for the organizers,” she said.
Limited police power
Chief Superintendent Wilben Mayor, Philippine National Police (PNP) spokesman, said police officers have limited power to check the presence of party drugs at huge events like last weekend’s concert.
“Policemen are deployed merely on the peace and order aspect and if ever an untoward incident takes place, that’s when our policemen will respond,” he said.
Chief Inspector Roque Merdegia, former head of the PNP’s Anti-Illegal Drug Group (AIDG) legal investigation division, said green amore, also known as “green apple,” causes irregular heartbeat, blurred vision, dizziness, hyperthermia, vomiting and hallucinations and “eventually causes death.”
During his stint at the AIDG, Merdegia said they received tips on the rampant sale of illegal drugs, particularly ecstasy, during parties or events with international disc jockeys.
“More people go to these events and drug dealers take advantage of them to distribute illegal drugs,” he said.
Merdegia said the party drugs are cocktails that use different combinations of ecstasy; shabu; Cialis, a drug used to treat erectile dysfunction; or Chinese Viagra, an herbal aphrodisiac.
Merdegia also warned the public against designer stimulants paramethoxyamphetamine – also known as “Dr. Death,” “pink death” or “pink ecstasy,” a designer stimulant – and paramethoxymethamphetamine, which have been linked to deaths at rave parties abroad.
Probe sought
Rep. Terry Ridon of party-list group Kabataan asked the House of Representatives yesterday to look into the deaths.
In an official statement, Closeup and the organizers expressed regret over what had transpired despite the “very stringent measures and precautions” they have put in place “to ensure the safety and security of all attendees.”
Ridon said investigators need to answer questions such as, “If dangerous drugs were indeed available in the party venue, how were they able to slip in such substances? Are the concessionaires in the venue involved? Surely what had transpired in the concert is not an isolated case.”
He said in the United States, the “Illicit Drug Anti-Proliferation Act” expanded federal laws to prosecute business owners if they “maintain drug-involved premises.”
Ridon said “harm reduction measures should be put in place at such events, such as the provision of drinking water, drug education and ample breathing spaces.” – With Cecille Suerte Felipe, Ghio Ong, Sheila Crisostomo, Jess Diaz