MANILA, Philippines — GMA Network admitted Monday that there was no safety officer on the set during the late veteran actor Eddie Garcia’s accident, but maintained there were first aid responders present.
Senator Grace Poe clarified to representatives of GMA Network the initial findings of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) on the case of Garcia, who figured in a fatal accident, during the Senate hearing on Occupational Safety and Health Standards.
“I’d like to ask GMA 7, did you have a designated safety officer in the set at the time of the incident?” Poe asked.
“On the location, there was none. But prior to that, there was a consultation with OSH [Occupational Standard and Health] team inside GMA,” GMA’s assistance vice president of drama Cheryl Ching-Sy told the Senate panel.
Poe also asked whether GMA designated a certified first aider on the set, which DOLE claimed in its findings the network failed to do.
READ: GMA violated work safety regulations in fatal Eddie Garcia accident – DOLE
“We did. We had three staff members who underwent training with Red Cross. And they were present on the set,” Ching-Sy responded.
When asked why GMA failed to submit an incident report to DOLE, the network’s head of labor relations, Fidel Asuncion, said they had to wait for a report by an investigating committee and stressed they “respect” Garcia’s family as the first to know what happened.
“The GMA actually appointed an investigating committee to determine what actually happened. And we have to wait for that report because we also acknowledge, we also respect the family of Eddie Garcia that they will be the first one to know what really happened,” Asuncion told the Senate panel.
Garcia passed away on June 20 at the age of 90 after nearly two weeks of being in a comatose state. Last June 8, the veteran actor suffered a neck fracture after tripping on a cable wire during the taping of an upcoming GMA teleserye. /kga