Water firm execs sued over diggings

FERNANDO Zobel de Ayala, chairman of Manila Water Inc., and other officials of the company were sued before the Quezon City Prosecutors’ Office after a car fell into a road excavation in an on-going project.

The complaint-affidavit charging the respondents for reckless imprudence resulting in damage to property and physical injuries was filed April 19 by Victor Luis Quijano Padilla.

Also in the complaint were Jaime Augusto Zobel De Ayala (vice chairman), Delfin Lazaro (executive committee vice chairman), Antonio Aquino (executive committee member), Gerardo Ablaza Jr., Jose Rene Almendras (president), Cielito Habito, Oscar Reyes, Luis Juan Oreta (chief financial officer), Solomon Hermosura (corporate secretary) along with group directors Virgilio Rivera Jr., Ruel Maranan, and Geodino Carpio.

Padilla said he was driving his 1995 model Nissan Patrol (UAZ-273) around 4:20 a.m., when the incident occurred on Tomas Morato Ave. toward E. Rodriguez Sr. Ave.

He said there was no “sufficient lighting and early warning devices to forewarn vehicles” passing the place.

Padilla said his wrecked car would cost him P409,094 for repairs based on the estimate of the EDSA Car Service Center.

His medical certificate indicated abrasions and hematoma in his lower lip. –Roy Pelovello, Manila Standard Today