Scene of accident in Subic Keppel was ‘tainted’–police

MANILA, Philippines — Policemen who responded to the Subic Keppel shipyard incident that killed five workers last week said the scene was already “tainted” when they were allowed entry by the management.

During the hearing of the Senate committee on labor employment on Monday, police provincial director Senior Superintendent Francisco de Belen Santiago said that they were not immediately allowed entry in the area because they needed to first get a clearance from the management.

When they were finally allowed inside, the bodies of the killed workers and those injured were already gone.

“The scene of the accident was already tainted,” Santiago said. “We weren’t able to conduct a 100 percent investigation because some of the things were moved and we could not determine the position of those who were killed and injured,” he added.

Senate Pro Tempore Jose “Jinggoy” Estrada, chairman of the committee, then asked Keppel shipyard president Mok Kim Whang, who was present in the hearing, why the authorities had to get a clearance before they were allowed entry.

And while he did not deny it, Whang explained there was no intention to prevent any investigation.

“I can assure you, there was no intention to prevent them from any investigation. We were concentrating on rescue. That was our priority,” he told the b committee.

The Keppel president also denied the allegation he did not allow Zambales Mayor Jefferson Khongkun to enter the area.

“That’s not true. I just want to apologize that our main concern was for the evacuation of the injured people. At that time, our concern is just to rescue the injured people,” he reiterated.

Also during the hearing, the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) reported that its own investigations showed that there were “inadequate’ safety measures in the shipyard when the incident happened because the workers were rushing to beat a deadline.

“Simultaneous repairs were done to fast track the completion of the project because of approaching deadline. This led to inadequate safety measures on the jobs being done on the site. That’s our findings,” Labor Undersecretary Lourdes Trasmonte said an investigation conducted by its office in the region showed “inadequate” safety measures in the shipyard because the workers were rushing to complete the project.

Trasmonte said the tower support of the flapper ramp was only installed for nine days.

“The tower support was installed at the bottom of the flapper ramp. The weight of the ramp and the activity on the ramp caused the hinge movement on the flapper which toppled the support tower which has been installed for nine days,” she said.

“The weight of the materials being used and the ramp itself might have caused the cables to tighten up thereby making a jerking motion on the ramp. This sudden jerking caused the cables to snap up or cut in one side and loosen up on the other side,” she added.

Santiago said that while their investigation showed no “negligence’ on the part of the management, he questioned the capability of the tower to support the 166.5 tons ramp.