Man complains of death threats
An official of a vessel classification society filed on Monday afternoon a complaint with the Manila Police District (MPD) after he received several death threats that he claimed were triggered by his expose on alleged anomalies at the Maritime Industry Authority (Marina). Rene Villoria, 53, president of the Filipino Vessels Classification System Association Inc., asked the MPD General Assignment Section to place on record the four death threats he had received through text on his cell phone. In his complaint, Villoria said he received the text messages on November 26 from 9:14 p.m. to 9:17 p.m., each message sent a minute apart. The first and second text messages warned him to watch out because he had duped so many people. On the other hand, the third told him that there were plans for him. The last one informed him that he had been paid for. Although the text messages were short and ambiguous, Villoria claimed they were death threats. He named at least three Marina officials and an official of another classification society whom he believed were behind the threats because of a letter he wrote to Transportation Secretary Mar Roxas in which he “exposed [anomalies] in the Marina and suggested improvements in its procedures.” Also last October 6, Villoria said he spoke out during an open forum at an annual general membership meeting of the Makati Businesss Club and asked Roxas to look into the alleged rampant corruption at the Marina claiming that the agency allowed vessels to sail even without inspecting them. Roxas had vowed to look into his allegations, he added.—Jeannette I. Andrade
Worker killed in accident
A 21-year-old factory worker described by coworkers as always pulling a prank on them was killed when at least 80 roofing sheets accidentally fell on him inside a steel manufacturing company in Quezon City on Monday evening, a police report said. Senior Police Officer 1 Jaime Jimena of the Quezon City Police District identified the worker as Jason Rivera of Barangay (village) Manresa, Quezon City. “He was allegedly playing with the iron sheets while these were being lowered down by a crane when these fell on him,” Jimena said. He added that the accident occurred at 7:52 p.m. at LEC Steel Manufacturing Corp. located at 659 A. Bonifacio St. in Barangay Pag-Ibig. He said Rivera sustained a broken skull and lacerations in various parts of his body and died on the spot. Jimena said the whole incident was recorded on the factory’s closed circuit television camera. The footage, Jimena said, was presented by the firm’s management to the police and also shown to relatives of the victim. “The video showed what took place,” Jimena said. The video showed that the victim was standing near the moving crane carrying the iron sheets, which were protected by a wooden box for transfer to a forklift. A coworker identified as Nelson Vallentes told the police that he had warned Rivera not to stay there while the operation was ongoing. “But instead of moving away, the victim clowned around and then reached for the wooden pallet that held the roofing sheets,” Jimena explained. “The cargo tilted and dropped to the floor where Rivera was standing,” he added.—Nancy C. Carvajal