Drunk driving? DepEd's mini-bus rams taxi, which then hits girl

CEBU, Philippines - Two vehicle drivers may end up in jail after hitting a 15-year-old girl near a mall at Barangay Lahug, Cebu City yesterday afternoon.

Currently in police custody are Gabriel Delicano, the taxicab driver that hit the girl and Jason Senora, driver of the mini-bus owned by the Department of Education (DepEd) 7’s Ecotech Center, which hit the rear portion of the cab.

Butch Arnaiz, barangay tanod of Lahug, narrated that the victim, Mary Joy Espina, was flagging down a passenger jeepney bound for Barangay Apas at 4 p.m. when she was hit by the taxicab which was tailing the jeepney.

The cab was an HCD Taxi with plate numbers GXS-193.

“Naliso daw ang tiil,” Arnaiz said, quoting fellow barangay tanod Raul Perpetua who witnessed the incident. Perpertua, who lives near the place, was a neighbor of the victim.

Arnaiz said Perpetua, who was not on duty that time, was plying his route as a motorcycle-for-hire driver when the accident happened.

The mini-bus driver sped off, prompting Perpetua to give a chase up to Barangay Luz.

Perpetua spotted fellow barangay tanods at an outpost and sought their help to intercept the mini-bus.

The tanods immediately responded and succeeded in stopping the mini-bus.

They called the City Traffic Operations Management and the Traffic Patrol Group, whose officers arrested the suspect who reportedly appeared to be drunk.

The victim, on the other hand, was rushed by responding Emergency Rescue Unit Foundation to the Cebu City Medical Center.

The police took the two drivers to the same hospital where the taxi driver was also treated because he sustained bruises on his body because of the impact.

The mini-bus driver and the cab driver were made to undergo a liquor test, PO2 Marlon Abella of the Traffic Division said.

As of press time, Abella said they could not yet state categorically if the two drivers are considered arrested. He said they are still investigating and determining if there is probable cause to arrest the two or either of them. — (FREEMAN)