A view of the Closeup Forever Summer concert on May 21, 2016 (Photo contributed by Glette Yzak Muring)
MANILA — The company manufacturing and distributing Closeup toothpaste in the Philippines has vowed to cooperate with the Department of Justice in the preliminary investigation of the complaints filed in relation to the sudden deaths of five young people who attended the Closeup Forever Summer concert in May 2016.
“We have received information that there will be a preliminary investigation by the DOJ on the Forever Summer incident but we have yet to receive a copy of the formal complaint,” Closeup spokesperson Ed Sunico told the Philippine Daily Inquirer.
“Again, our management team is deeply saddened by the events that took place at the Forever Summer music festival last year,” Sunico said. “We acted in good faith in the staging of the event and will continue to cooperate in all the upcoming proceedings.”
The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) on Wednesday filed a criminal complaint against officials of the Unilever Philippines and organizers of the Forever Summer concert in Pasay City, over the deaths of five concert-goers on May 21, 2016.
Facing complaint for criminal negligence and violation of the Corporation Code are Rohit Jawa, Unilever Philippines Chairman and CEO and currently the Executive Vice President-Operations South East Asia; Jesus M. Canlapan, Unilever Philippines Manager for Workplace Services and Facility Security; Alberto Curnelius Trinidad, Unilever’s Marketing Director for Close-Up; Joy Dalanon-Ocampo, Country Manager for Safety, Health and Environment; Procurement manager Melissa Alcayaga; and Close-Up Assistant Brand Manager Bea Lagdameo.
Others in the complaint are Michelle Suzanne Claire Quintana; Anna Kristina Doctolero; Baby Majalia Ahamadul, Senior accounts manager of Activation Advertising Inc.; Reginald Soriano; Eduardo Muego,; John Paul Demontano, the owner and President of HypeHouse Production Corporation; and Alexis Engelberto Aragon, owner of Delirium Manpower Services.
The complaint stated that Unilever and the event organizers failed to anticipate security problems such as the entry of illegal drugs in the event and failed to deploy drug-sniffing dogs at the concert site. It added that organizers did not undergo a security simulation exercise with the police and did not bother to coordinatewith the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency.
Autopsies conducted on the fatalities showed that they tested positive for a designer drug known as methylenedioxymethamphetamine or MDMA methylene homog and methylenedixy cathinone. These are new generation synthetic and recreational drugs that are not yet in the list of prohibited drugs under the Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002. SFM