House probes Pasay concert deaths

The House of Representatives will start today its inquiry into the death of five partygoers during a 10hour concert in Pasay City last month.

“We need to get to the bottom of what happened to avoid a repetition of this tragedy,” Quezon City Rep. Winston Castelo, who chairs the House committee on Metro Manila development, said yesterday.

“We may not pin down the culprits behind the death of the victims as this is within the scope of the police. But what is important is for us to be able to inform the public on the lethal effects of illegal drugs and come up with guidelines on the conduct of concerts and parties to stave off the recurrence of this unfortunate incident,” Castelo said.

He said the probe would try to bring out the facts and help the families of the victims seek justice.

“There is so much at stake here. There’s no telling how many more will fall victim to this kind of manmade tragedy if we don’t curb it right off the bat,” Castelo said.

The House panel is conducting the investigation together with the committees on dangerous drugs, and youth and sports development.

They have invited representatives of Unilever, which organized the concert; National Bureau of Investigation (NBI); Pasay City police; Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency; event organizers Activation Advertising and Eventscape and SM Mall of Asia, where the Closeup Forever Summer party was held on May 22.

A report from the Pasay police stated that four partygoers were found unconscious during the concert. They were rushed to the hospital but died shortly after.

A fifth victim was listed in critical condition but later passed away.

Authorities identified the fatalities as Bianca Fontejon, 18; Lance Garcia, 36; Ariel Leal, 22; Ken Migawa, 18, and Eric Anthony Miller, 33, an American.

Reports said the victims took the party drug “green amore,” a mix of ecstasy, shabu and cocaine.

NBI doctors said the victims died of “massive heart attacks” and their internal organs started bleeding.