Lawyer: Kentex fire victims’ kin to pursue criminal raps despite P150k settlement

Families of the Kentex factory fire victims will push through with filing criminal charges against the company despite some receiving compensation for case.

"Nilinaw nila na ang inareglo nila yung civil case lamang at walang makakapigil sa kanila sa pagpatuloy ng kanilang sinampang criminal case sa Office of the Prosecutor ng Valenzuela City," Atty. Remigio Saladero told GMA News TV's "Balitanghali" on Thursday.

Kentex Manufacturing Corporation lawyer Atty. Renato Paraiso said earlier that 57 families signed quit-claims, waivers, and releases to receive P151,200.

Saladero admitted that he didn't know if the waivers precluded the possibility of filing criminal charges against the factory owners, but argued that Kentex did not file their quit-claims to the right group.

"Nagkataong wala kami dun sa labor case sa National Labor Commission at hindi naman 'yun ang dapat pag-submitan nila ng kanilang quit-claim kundi sa prosecutor's office sa Valenzuela," he contended.

In a separate interview on "Balitanghali", Paraiso countered that the families who signed the forms waived their right to file cases against Kentex and its officials.

"Exactly the opposite. Quit-claims, waivers, at tsaka yung releases po indicate that they wave the rights to file action against Kentex's officers and directors for any criminal or administrative liabilities," he elaborated.

"These were explained to them both by their councils and arbiters sa NLRC (National Labor Relations Commission) regarding the contents of the waivers and quit-claims, as well as the implications po," Paraiso added.

Several groups launched a protest before the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) 43 days after the incident to seek justice for the Kentex factory fire victims and the deplorable work conditions of the workers. -Rie Takumi/NB, GMA News