Cop, wife injured in mishap

CEBU, Philippines - A policeman and his wife landed in the hospital after the motorcycle he was driving hit a pile of soil allegedly obstructing the intersection of P. del Rosario Street and D. Jakosalem Street in Cebu City yesterday.

For two hours, personnel of the Cebu City Traffic Office, formerly City Traffic Operations Management, managed the traffic congestion in the area caused by the accident.

CCTO Operations Division Chief Jonathan Tumulak said the pile of soil, which could allegedly fill up half the space of a mini-cargo truck, caused the intersection to get slippery.

Senior Police Officer 4 Noel Evangelista from the Mobile Patrol Group was driving a motorcycle with his wife at past 3 a.m. yesterday when they passed by the area and fell to the pavement.

“The lane got slippery because of the mud that was obstructing the road and so the vehicle went out of balance, thus, causing the two to fall,” said Tumulak.

The couple was rushed to Cebu City Medical Center after sustaining injuries.

Through the city’s Department of Public Service, the soil was hauled using heavy equipment and the affected lane was eventually cleared.

Tumulak said they are now trying to determine who dumped the soil in the area.

SRP accident

Meanwhile, traffic at the South Road Properties was also affected when four vehicles figured in an accident.

Senior Police Officer 1 Dionisio Galo of the Traffic Patrol Group said no one was injured in the vehicle smashup but the accident caused around 15 minutes of heavy traffic at the SRP.

Galo said at around 10:30 a.m. yesterday, a Ken taxi cab driven by Oscar Larosa, 40, a Honda Fit car driven by Catherine Solicar, 36, and a Hyundai van driven by Ananias Cabusas, 34, were in convoy when the taxi and the car suddenly pulled over at the SRP bridge.

The van was reportedly not able to stop on time and hit the rear portion of the car, which subsequently hit the taxi’s rear.

According to Galo, someone possibly crossed the road that caused the taxicab and the car to pull over. The van, he said, probably travelled speedily that it was not able to immediately stop.

While the drivers of the three vehicles were waiting for the traffic enforcers to solve the problem, a ten-wheeler wing van driven by Luis Pordan, 34, tried to pass through and get out from being stuck in traffic, but ended up hitting the side mirror of the van, delaying the traffic flow even more.  (FREEMAN)