Road accident: Parish priest dies his asst. hurt in another, hour after

TACLOBAN CITY, Philippines —Amid bad weather Tuesday afternoon, the parish priest of Guiuan town in Eastern Samar, died after the vehicle he was riding was rammed on the left side by a wayward truck along the highway at Barangay Naparaan in Salcedo town.

Police identified the priest as 50-year-old Father Moises Campo, who sustained critical injuries due to the impact, and was rushed to a hospital in Guiuan but was declared dead on arrival.

About an hour after, his assistant parish priest, Father Edmel Raagas, also met an accident along the highway at Barangay Anuron in Mercedes town, also in Eastern Samar when his car crashed into a lamp post and caught fire.

The Mercedes rescue team and members of the Bureau of Fire Protection pulled out Raagas from his burning car. He suffered burns in various parts of his body, and was rushed to a private hospital in Tacloban City.

Initial police investigation showed that the two priests were on their separate ways back to their parish church in Guiuan, after attending their bi-monthly meeting among priests or recollection at Borongan City, the provincial capital.

The police continued their manhunt yesterday of the truck driver who fled immediately after ramming Campo’s car and killing the priest.

Guiuan Mayor Shane Gonzales had appealed to the still unidentified truck driver to surrender to the authorities to give justice to the death of Campo.