Ex-senator, aide hurt in mishap

CEBU, Philippines- Former Senator Heherson Alvarez and his aide were hurt in a road accident at Barangay Pandanon Silos in Murcia town, Negros Occidental, Tuesday afternoon.

Alvarez, now commissioner of the Climate Change Commission, was in the province for the Interfaith Conference on Climate Change at a resort in Talisay City, Tuesday morning.

Senior Inspector Norberto Barniso, Murcia Police chief, said Alvarez and his aide, identified as Bernadette Felix, were on their way to San Carlos City to visit the solar farm when they met the accident at around 3:30 p.m. at the boundary of Murcia and Don Salvador Benedicto towns.

Barniso said driver John Ci-O tried to avoid an incoming motorcycle, but his vehicle rammed instead a 10-wheeler truck parked by the road side. Ci-O and another passenger, DENR personnel Raffy Taguihanon, were unharmed.

Police investigation showed that the vehicle, driven by Ci-O, was overspeeding, causing the accident.

Vice Governor Eugenio Jose “Bong” Lacson, who was on his way to Bacolod City, happened to pass by the area minutes after the accident. He brought the victims to a hospital in Bacolod City.

According to Lacson, Alvarez may have an internal bleeding while his lady companion complained that she could not breath and had a bump on the head.  (FREEMAN)