CITY OF SAN FERNANDO, Philippines--The father of a Subic worker who fell from a company truck and died during work on Dec. 24, has sued his son's employer, a subsidiary of the Korean shipbuilder Hanjin Heavy Industries and Construction Co. Ltd., and the truck driver.
Raul Loquinario, 47, filed a criminal case against a Korean who drove the truck from where his son fell over and died on Dec. 24.
He also sued Hanjin's DMK Philippines-Korea Co.-HHIC for alleged labor violations.
Loquinario assailed the police in Subic town for not arresting the driver, Jang Jong Dae, 41, and chief of the engineering unit.
The case for reckless imprudence resulting in homicide against Jang was filed at the Olongapo City prosecutor's office on Dec. 27.
The family refused the offer of P100,000 from a certain Mr. Lee, reportedly a director of the DMK, as settlement for the death of Reynan, 24.
"My son's work was over that day but that Korean ordered my son and his co-worker [Jason Valdeztamon] to board the truck and hold the two pipes there as he drove within the Hanjin compound," Loquinario told the Philippine Daily Inquirer (parent company of INQUIRER.net) by phone.
In an affidavit, Valdeztamon said Jang instructed them to hold two metal pipes. "The sidings of the trucks were not closed. We had no safety cables on. The driver drove very fast. Reynan was [thrown off] the truck and the pipes fell on him," Valdeztamon said.
Reynan died of multiple crash injuries.
Jang, Loquinario said, was not supposed to drive the truck at that time because the vehicle was assigned to another personnel.
The Philippine Daily Inquirer on Sunday tried but failed to reach Jang, the DMK or Hanjin. Jong Yu Pyeong, Hanjin general manager, did not reply to the paper's queries on Sunday.
"The policemen acted like they were mediating for Hanjin, not on behalf of my son. They were preventing us from filing cases. They did not want to make an affidavit of my complaint," Loquinario said.
Supt. Cesar Jacob, Subic police chief, said his men tried but failed to find Jang at the Hanjin compound.
"When we could not find Jang, we went to the family of the victim to get their statements. They agreed to a settlement at first but changed their mind," Jacob said.
The complaints by Loquinario, the first to be filed against a Hanjin employee and the companies, put a spotlight on the treatment of Korean investors of Filipino workers and safety measures at workplaces, said Ramon Lacbain II, chair of the Zambales government's Task Force Hanjin that assisted the family.
Reynan, the eldest in the brood of six, was the family's lone breadwinner. Loquinario has been ill and tends a sari-sari (variety) store.
Jacob described the DMK as a "sub-contractor" of Hanjin.
Chief Supt. Errol Pan, Central Luzon police director, said the task force had "no jurisdiction over the case." He said the police prepared a case against some people who prodded the Loquinarios to reject the settlement offer. He declined to identify them.
A policeman in Zambales said Hanjin offered P250,000 but the task force "meddled" and "influenced" the family to demand at least P2 million. Loquinario denied asking for such an amount.
"All I want is justice. Those Koreans should be taught a lesson. They shouldn't treat Filipino workers the way they treated my son," he said.
Lacbain denied that the task force exerted pressure on the Loquinarios.
"The task force has been formed to address the social, economic and environmental impact of the project. We are, in fact, helping Hanjin do its social responsibilities in the communities," Lacbain said.
The labor case accused DMK and Hanjin of neglect, of not issuing copies of employment contracts to workers, of paying below the minimum wage, and of non-registration of workers with the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth), Social Security System (SSS) and Pag-Ibig Fund.
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