Gonzalez: Arroyo's remarks immaterial to stampede report

Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez on Friday said President Arroyo's statement on the accountability of the "Wowowee" game show organizers was immaterial to results of the ongoing government investigation on the PhilSports stampede. Gonzales said the President’s remarks about the organizers' negligence would not preempt the investigation results of the Department of Justice-National Bureau of Investigation evaluating panel on the February 4 tragedy. Mrs. Arroyo said Tuesday there was negligence on the part of the organizers that eventually caused the tragedy which claimed the lives of more than 70 people. She said justice would take its course on the matter and that those that would be found liable would be answerable to the law. The ABS-CBN Network, producer of the “Wowowee" show, were up in arms over the President’s statements. Network officials said this only showed that they have been unduly prejudged even though the investigation was still underway. Gonzalez said that even before Mrs. Arroyo made the remarks, ABS-CBN executives already took responsibility on the incident. Right after the stampede, ABS-CBN chairman and chief executive officer Eugenio Lopez III claimed responsibility for the incident as he expressed willingness to face the legal consequences. Network spokesmen later said, however, that they will only accept responsibility for the tragedy if they are found liable under the court of law. Gonzalez said the inter-agency fact-finding panel tasked on the PhilSports incident also pointed to the negligence of show organizers. The report was forwarded to the DOJ-NBI panel for evaluation. The justice secretary said he expects to receive the report of the evaluating panel on Monday in compliance with his 10-day deadline, which ends on Saturday. He said the report will contain the names of those who will be called to attend a preliminary investigation, if the evaluating panel warrants for one.-GMANEWS.TV