Paint analysis confirms another vehicle hit Simbulan's taxi

Manila, Philippines - The results of “paint analysis” confirmed that another vehicle struck the taxicab that carried journalist Lourdes Simbulan on the night she died in an accident, apart from the bus initially blamed for her death, a Quezon City Police District (QCPD) official said yesterday.

Superintendent Arnold Santiago, head of the QCPD’s Traffic Enforcement Unit, said the paint analysis was part of a “reinvestigation” ordered by QCPD director Chief Superintendent George Regis following allegations by Universal Guiding Star (UGS) bus driver Daniel Espinosa that two other buses were involved in the accident, with one of them actually hitting the taxicab before Espinosa crashed his vehicle into it.

In an interview yesterday, Santiago said apart from the orange paint that came from Espinosa’s bus, they found green paint at the back of the taxicab. “These (green stains) did not match the color of Universal Guiding Star buses,” Santiago said.

Espinosa’s lawyer, Salvador Panelo, and UGS pointed to a unit of Nova Auto Transport, but Nova Auto’s lawyer, Vigor Mendoza, had denied it, saying none of their vehicles bore any physical signs of such a collision.

Espinosa is facing cases for reckless imprudence resulting in homicide and damage to property and abandonment of one’s victim.

Santiago said they will submit their report to the city prosecutor’s office.