Valisno bus operator skips another hearing

MANILA, Philippines - The operator of the Valisno Express snubbed yet another hearing at the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) yesterday morning. 

Rosalinda Valisno went to a hospital in Mindoro to “relieve” the stress she had been feeling after one of the firm’s buses figured in a crash that killed four passengers and injured eight others in Quezon City on Aug. 12, lawyer Francisco Blanes said. 

He and Valisno’s executive secretary, Vivian Martinez, presented a medical certificate to the LTFRB. The certificate stated that Valisno has been confined at the Medical Mission Group Hospital and Health Services Cooperative of Oriental Mindoro since Monday.

The document also stated that Valisno had surgery to remove hemorrhoids.  

LTFRB Chairman Winston Ginez said Valisno’s failure to attend the hearing “will be taken against her,” citing that the board has “sufficiently provided” the opportunity for her to explain about the incident, but she still failed to attend the hearing.

Valisno also failed to attend the first hearing before the LTFRB on Aug. 18.

Ginez said the board is set to make a decision on whether to lift the suspension order or revoke the firm’s franchise on or before Sept. 12.

The driver of the ill-fated bus, George Pacis, is still in jail.

Ginez said Valisno should have posted bail for Pacis so the LTFRB could find out what really happened.

Senior Inspector Marlon Meman, chief of the Quezon City Police District Traffic Sector 2, earlier said the owner of bus firm has visited Pacis and said they will prioritize giving benefits to the victims’ families before they process his case.

The court has yet to set bail on the charges of reckless driving resulting in damage to property with multiple homicide and multiple physical injuries and violating Article 275 of the Revised Penal Code (abandoning a person in danger or one’s own victim).

During yesterday’s hearing, Blanes and Martinez submitted a list of the bus firm’s drivers who passed drug tests.

LTFRB board member Ariel Inton, however, was not convinced with the result of the drug tests. 

Martinez explained that the drug test was conducted in a clinic accredited by LTFRB. Ginez, however, said the board has not given accreditations to clinics.