THE Department of Justice on Thursday started its preliminary investigation on criminal charges against several executives of Unilever Philippines, in connection with the death of five people during the Closeup Forever Summer concert in Pasay City last year.
However, the respondents failed to show up during the hearing on charges of criminal negligence and violation of the Corporation Code filed by the National Bureau of Investigation last month.
Associate Prosecution Attorney Anna Noreen Devanadera, who is handling the case, then gave them more time to file their answers in the next hearing set on March 17.
The respondents—Rohit Jawa, former Unilever Phils. chairman and now the regional executive vice president for operations in South East Asia; Jesus Canlapan, manager for workplace services and facility security; Alberto Curnelius Trinidad, marketing director for Closeup product; Joy Dalanon-Ocampo, manager for safety, health and environment; procurement manager Melissa Alcayaga; and Closeup assistant brand manager Bea Lagdameo—only sent their corporate lawyers to receive the documents from the DoJ.
The other respondents are organizers of the event: Michelle Suzanne Claire Quintana, Anna Kristina Doctolero and Baby Majalia Ahamadul of Activation Advertising Inc.; Reginald Soriano, Eduardo Muego and John Paul Demontano of HypeHouse Production Corporation; and Alexis Engelberto Aragon of Delirium Manpower Services.
The complainant, the NBI, presented its witnesses, who subscribed to their respective affidavits.
On the other hand, the victims are considering filing an amended complaint to include other executives of Unilever and the advertising firm that organized the event.
According to their lawyer Ariel Radovan, they have seen possible liability of other individuals not seen by the NBI in its fact-finding probe.
“It is our position that other respondents must also be included in the charges. We are reviewing files and there is a probability that we are going to amend the files so that other corporate officials either from Unilever or Activation Group should be held accountable criminally,” Radovan said in an interview.
The five casualties in the incident were Ariel Leal, Bianca Fontejon, Lance Garcia, Ken Migawa and Eric Anthony Miller.
Authorities earlier said the victims who died of cardiac arrest during the concert tested positive for a designer drug known as methylenedioxymethamphetamine or MDMA, which is not illegal under the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act but actually dangerous for human consumption.
Charges were already filed against the arrested supplier of the drugs.
In its complaint, the NBI alleged the respondents were “criminally liable based on the responsible officer doctrine for they held a position of responsibility and authority in their respective corporations and had the ability to prevent the unwanted incidents but failed to do so.”
The bureau stressed the Unilever executives and the organizers of the rave party failed to consider several factors and that their responsibilities did not end with approval of a security master plan.
Probers also cited the failure of respondents to prevent entry of illegal drugs in the venue by deploying drug sniffing dogs and coordinating with the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency.
There was also no simulation exercise held with the police, the NBI said.
The NBI also said there was insufficient number of bouncers deployed in the event and that they were only trained for crowd control, unruly behavior and place evacuation.