A killer dump truck and a maritime disaster

Exactly a week ago, this incident had all the trappings of a very ordinary funeral, attended only by immediate families and friends of the 80-year-old Mrs. Tranquilina Imit in a very remote place in Barangay Balao, Barili, Cebu (some 60 kilometers southwest of Cebu City) and you can even say that this scenario is repeated almost every weekend in the entire country, except perhaps in Metro Manila or in Metro Cebu where buses are available.

However this particular funeral resulted in 10 additional funerals because the dump truck owned by the Municipality of Barili (it carried more than 50 mourners, including the casket of the deceased) lost its brakes and fell into a ravine resulting in 10 fatalities and scores injured. Knowing how poorly government vehicles are maintained, you can say that this was an accident just waiting to happen. So much for government maintained trucks!

Now a criminal case for reckless imprudence has been filed against the driver Alwin Bayno who admitted that the dump truck was having brake problems. He even requested for another dump truck to be used. But since none was available, he had to go on using the dump truck. On the way, the driver stopped to add brake fluid so he won’t lose his brakes. But alas, he eventually lost control of the truck and the disaster became headline news in our local dailies in Cebu.

Because of this accident, Land Transportation Office (LTO-7) Regional Director Raul Aquilos issued an advisory to the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) not to allow the use of dump trucks for passenger use. But no less than Mandaue City Mayor Jonas Cortes declared that he would still use dump or cargo trucks to transport people. In all the remote places all over the country cargo or dump trucks are the only available transportation, used by the poor people who go to funerals or fiestas!

Last Sunday, there was a mass funeral for the 10 dead mourners, now attended by a multitude of mourners, but this time the mourners did not use a dump truck anymore and literally carried their dead to the cemetery. This brings us to the more interesting story that the old woman who died had a last wish… that she be carried by her relatives to her grave and not to be brought by a vehicle. Since the family did not honor her last wish…now the family of the dead woman is blaming her for the accident. Call it superstition if you want, but can the dead be mad at her family for not granting her wish? 

There is no doubt that dump trucks are used by Barangay officials all over the country as a means of supporting the families of a deceased person. We see this almost every other weekend when we ride our motorcycles to the countryside and where we always encounter a funeral cortege in almost all the towns we pass by and indeed dump or cargo trucks are used by the mourners. At least in Cebu City, the constituents have a free use of a Kaoshuing Bus for this same specific purpose.

However I do agree with LTO-7 Regional Director Aquilos that cargo or dump trucks are not for passenger use. Let me add that cargo or dump trucks are also used during election time as a means to “Hakot” or bring voters into their polling places. This has always been an age-old practice and we hope under the Aquino administration, they would find a novel way to prevent future incidents like this from happening. So can the LTO enforce this?

Meanwhile another maritime disaster struck in Cebu last Sunday when the M/V Island Ferry I caught fire two miles off the Port of Cebu while enroute to the Port of Tubigon, Bohol. Of the seventy passengers and crew, two passengers and one crew member perished. Because it was still close to the Port of Cebu, the Philippine Coast Guard was quick to respond to this maritime incident, while the M/V Seajet helped in the rescue of the other passengers. The vessel sank a few hours after the fire gutted the engine room.

This incident comes just a few weeks after another sinking happened only last July 31st when the M/V Trans Asia-Malaysia with 107 passengers and 35 crew listed on its starboard side near Ajuy, Iloilo at around 8:00 in the morning and the Ship Captain Romualdo Geraldeso ordered the crew and its passengers to abandon ship. Luckily for the passengers and crew, a Tanker and the M/V Philippines Visayas of the Cokaliong Shipping Lines were nearby and rescued all the passengers and crew with no fatalities.

But the whole fleet of the Cebu-based Trans Asia fleet was suspended for two weeks by the Maritime Industry Authority (MARINA) pending investigation of the incident; then a few days ago, MARINA allowed Trans Asia Shipping Lines to operate again. At least we can sigh in relief that these two maritime incidents resulted only to 3 deaths, while a lowly dump truck accident resulted to 10 fatalities. Can’t the government provide those remote places with a safe and secure vehicle for use in funerals by the poor folk?

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