Teen actor dies in mishap

CAMP OLIVAS, Pampanga, Philippines – Teen actor AJ Perez, a contract star of ABS-CBN, was killed and five companions, including his father, were injured after their van smashed into a passenger bus along the MacArthur Highway in Moncada, Tarlac past midnight yesterday.

In a report to the regional police headquarters here, Senior Superintendent Alfredo Corpus, Tarlac police director, said 18-year-old Perez (Antonello Joseph Sarte Perez in real life) was declared dead on arrival at the Rayos Hospital in Paniqui, Tarlac.

Injured in the road collision were Perez’s father Gerardo, 46; Christopher Bautista, 44; Cristina Ferrer, 25; Edwin Pitilos, 28; and Danylyn Dungca, 31.

Corpus said the victims were on board one of two Nissan Urvans registered to ABS-CBN. They were returning to Manila from a mall show in Dagupan City in Pangasinan.

Corpus said the Nissan Urvan bearing Perez and driven by Bautista overtook the other van and rammed into an incoming Partas bus driven by Julie Brillantes, 44.  

The bus struck the Nissan Urvan on one side and the impact pushed the van sideways, causing it to hit a parked 10-wheeler truck.

Corpus said police have filed charges of homicide, multiple physical injuries and damage to property against Bautista.

Chief Superintendent Leonardo Espina, director of the Highway Patrol Group, said they would also look into the incident in coordination with the Tarlac police.

Perez starred in ABS-CBN’s afternoon soap opera “Sabel.”

According to the PEP website, Perez’s last posting on Twitter was at around 11 p.m. Saturday. It read: “On the way home already from Dagupan. Long drive ahead. Thanks to everybody who watched...” – With Mike Frialde