10 persons hurt in Batangas mishap

CAMP VICENTE LIM, Laguna, Philippines - Barely nine days after Batangas’s tollway mishap last Sunday that left seven people killed, another two-vehicle smashup along the national highway, left 10 persons injured when a passenger jeepney they were riding bumped into a passenger bus in Barangay San Vicente, Santo Tomas, Batangas, police said yesterday.

Senior Superintendent Alberto Supapo, Batangas police director, said no fatalities were reported, but seven jeepney passengers identified as Adelaida Pucyutan, 44; Rosario Mirabona, 61; Rosario Mansit, 50; Aiza Aquino, 22; businesswoman Josefina Desepeda, 42; Liezel Abin and Michael Manzanilla were brought to St. Frances Cabrini Hospital for treatment of injuries.

Also hurt were passengers of the JAC Liner identified as bus conductor Julius Maala, 22; passengers Allan Parago, 32; and five-year-old Angela Parago, who were rushed to the nearest hospital in Santo Tomas, Batangas.

Police said the victims on board an Isu­zu jeepney (DXX-564) driven by Rodolfo Arevalo had just come from Alaminos, Laguna and on their way to Santo Tomas town proper when they met the accident at around 8:30 a.m. Sunday.

The jeepney was bumped from behind by a passenger bus (PXG-892) driven by Alan Yap along Maharlika Highway, Barangay San Vicente before both vehicles smashed a concrete barrier at Cabaong bridge.

On Sunday too, seven people including a couple and their two sons aged two and 10, were killed and four others were injured when a passenger bus hit a Nissan Sentra and a passenger jeepney along the Southern Tagalog Arterial Road (STAR) in Ibaan town, Batangas, at around 12:30 p.m.

Chief Superintendent Samuel Pagdilao Jr., Calabarzon police director, has ordered the Highway Patrol Group in Region 4A to initiate a random stop, board, and on-the-spot check on drunken drivers to prevent a repeat of last Sunday’s vehicular accident that resulted to the death of seven family members.