Kin of fatalities urged to sue

CEBU, Philippines - The Office of the Ombudsman-Visayas urged the family of the ten victims who died in a vehicle accident in Barili last week to file a complaint before their office.

Deputy Ombudsman for the Visayas Pelagio Apostol said they are waiting for any formal complaint to start the investigation into probable negligence on the part of the government officials.

“The office can do the fact-finding through media reports but it’s nice if the family of the victims will file complaints to investigate if there will be negligence in the part of the government official who manned the maintenance,” he said.

Apostol said the use of the dump truck in Barili was exempted from Oplan Red Plate, the operation against illegal use of government vehicles, as it was used in good faith and for the benefit of the community not just for personal use.

Ten people were killed while around 50 others were injured last Thursday after the truck that was carrying people to a burial in Barangay Kangdampas Barili crashed after the rubber cap of it’s brakes exploded.

Meanwhile, the Cebu Provincial Prosecutor’s Office has indicted the driver of the dump truck for reckless imprudence resulting in homicide.

Prosecutor Arnulfo Amodia found probable cause to elevate the case to Municipal Trial Court in Ba-rili yesterday after Alwin Bayno opted not to file a counter-affidavit.

Amodia recommended a P30,000 bail for Bayno’s temporary liberty and to commit Bayno to the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center.

Only Benjie Ricaplaza and Dionisia Escarpe, relatives of two of the fatalities, executed an affidavit for filing charges against Bayno. Ricaplaza lost two brothers in the accident while Escarpe lost her son.

Face Reality

Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia is not keen on following the memorandum of the Department of Interior and Local Government prohibiting local government units from using dump trucks to transport people.

Although she is not dealing directly with barangays, Garcia is supporting mayors who allow their government dump trucks to transport people from areas with no other means of transportation.

Garcia said that it is a reality that dump trucks are sometimes the only means of transport in far-flung barangays and carry more people than motorcycles-for-hire which are more risky.

“An accident is an accident that will happen whether you are riding the dump truck or you are riding a bus,” she said.

Garcia said that while it is good to evaluate what happened in Barili last week, she said it is also good to consider the realities.

“How do our mayors deal with request for transport not just for burials but for other activities that need the transport of people from one place to the other where there are no other available means of transportation?” she said.

“We are not living in a perfect and ideal world and we must deal with our challenges with the limited resources that we have in the best possible way that we can,” Garcia added.

The Land Transportation Office-VII together with the Civil Service Commission-7 will continue conducting regular seminars among government drivers following the Barili accident.

“We really regret the loss of lives before we learn to appreciate the importance of road safety. Lessons learned the hard and painful way. Sayop gyud nga pasakyan og mga tawo ang dump truck unya kulang sa maintenance ang vehicle duol gyud sa aksidente,” LTO regional director Raul Aguilos said.

Aguilos said that the government should lead as an example in following traffic laws and regulations.

DILG regional director Pedro Noval earlier issued a memorandum discouraging local government units from using cargo trucks to transport people, except in times of emergencies.

During transport strikes LGUs normally use dump trucks to ferry stranded passengers. (FREEMAN)