Metro Manila (CNN Philippines) — Eight months after five people died in in a summer concert in Pasay City, complaints are filed against those behind the event,
The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and family members of the victims filed criminal negligence complaints against officials of Unilever-Closeup and organizers of the “Forever Summer Party.”
The Closeup Forever Summer Concert – an open-air event – was held in Pasay City in May 2016
Five people died after allegedly taking illegal drugs at the event.
Read: Police investigate deaths of 5 individuals in Pasay City concert
The NBI filed charges against 13 people, including the former chairman and CEO of Unilever Philippines.
Concert organizers were also included in the complaint.
According to the complaint, the respondents are criminally liable because of “responsible officer doctrine” as they had “responsibility and authority” to prevent any incident but failed to do so.
The NBI saw a loophole in the hiring of security personnel or bouncers who have no knowlege or experience to detect illegal drugs.
A concert attendee said a bouncer even accepted ₱700 for a person to enter the concert venue in advance.
Ariel Radovan, legal counsel of one of the victims’ families, said concert organizers should explain what really happened.
Read: Concert victims’ families to file class suit vs. organizers
Radovan said the victims’ families know justice may take a while, but they are comforted that something is happening after the death of their loved ones.
Night of tragedy
The Closeup Forever Summer concert was an open-air party attended by around 14,000 in May 2016.
In a report, the Pasay City police said five people were “rushed separately” to hospitals “after they experienced difficulty breathing and eventually collapsed” during the concert.
The five concert-goers who died after allegedly taking illegal drugs were:
Ariel Leal, 22
Lance Garcia, 36
Ken Migawa, 18
Bianca Fontejon
Eric Anthony Miller, 33
Two of the victims were found with methylene homolog, a chemical used in laboratories to test for drugs. This chemical is unfit for human consumption and has never been tested on animals.
Read: NBI: Concert victims ingested drugs with deadly chemical
CNN Philippines correspondent Rex Remitio contributed to this report.
