Gov't officials blame each other for death of 6 Pinatubo trekkers

By Mar T. Supnad

CAPAS, Tarlac — Many people, particularly those in the government service, have the habit of washing their hands and putting the blame on each other when negligence is traced as cause of a tragedy.

This was proven once more when tragedy struck in Mt. Pinatubo a few days ago, resulting in the death of six persons, including three foreigners.

Shortly after the incident, Chief Supt. Nilo dela Cruz, Region 3 police director, immediately blamed Mayor Rey Catacutan for the incident and directed Tarlac police officials to conduct investigation of the local officials.

Six persons, including three French nationals, were allowed to trek to Mt. Pinatubo recently while Typhoon “Kiko” was lashing Central Luzon.

Ronnie Tiotuico, regional director of the Department of Tourism, immediately washed his hands, saying the municipal government of Capas had already taken over the operations of the Pinatubo Development Corp. from the tourism department.

The Mt. Pinatubo tourism project is reportedly raking in big money, and that’s was the reason the municipal government got interested in it.

The victims were reportedly allowed by Capas officials to climb Mt. Pinatubo despite the bad weather.

Five of the victims of the tragedy were identified as Thierry Chailot, Martin Cholet, Walter Steylian, all French nationals; and tourist guide Orlando Fernando and barangay tanod Fidel Relia.

But Mayor Catacutan immediately denied the claim and accused the Philippine Air Force of negligence.

He said that usually, soldiers manning a PAF checkpoint do not allow tourists to climb Mt. Pinatubo if the weather is bad.

Chief Supt. Dela Cruz, who is also chairman of the Region 3 Disaster Coordinating Council, had told Sr. Supt. Rudy Lacadin, Tarlac police director, to file criminal charges against those responsible for the tragedy if the evidence warrants.

The French nationals were in a group that was swept away by rampaging floodwaters. Another group, composed of Korean trekkers, was lucky as they were rescued by local and government teams.

Dela Cruz ordered Lacadin to determine, if any, the criminal and administrative liabilities of the local officials led by Mayor Catacutan. Mayor Catacutan could not be reached for comment.

Barangay tanod Relia of Sta. Juliana tried to rescue the victims, but he too perished when strong water current coming from Mt. Pinatubo took him away, Supt. Baltazar Mamaril Jr., public information officer of the Region 3 police office, said.