15 hurt as van plunges off Transcentral cliff

CEBU, Philippines - A van-for-hire carrying 15 people plunged off a cliff beside the Transcentral Highway in Barangay Babag 2, Cebu City, at 2 p.m. yesterday.

All passengers and the driver, survived with only minor injuries, said Chief Insp. David Señor, chief of the Traffic Patrol Group.

Señor said the victims were taken to the Cebu Doctors University Hospital and are now in stable condition. As of 7 p.m. yesterday, van driver Rustom Tundag, 35, was already released from the hospital and was turned over to the TPG.

SPO3 Nelson Jayme identified the injured passengers as Danilo Anggo, 50; Melvin Anggo, 50; Higinita Bitoon, 43; Annalea Manluluyo, 40; Charito Glodove, 36; Mostafa Umpar, 30; Judy Mae Rosales, 25; Franklin Badili, 23; and Lyn Mae Bendebel, 18.

Also injured were Eldibrando Padayogdog, Claerol Ihalaga, and Almark Alusco, all 17 years old; and John Rey Alpas and Rubilyn Inot, both 16.

Señor said the victims suffered scratches and bruises in different parts of their bodies.

Jayme said the van, a Hyundai utility vehicle with license plate numbers GWH-294, was heading to Cebu City from the terminal in Poblacion, Balamban town.

Babag 2 resident Ian Patalinghug, in a television report, said he was talking with his neighbors along the road when they saw the van speeding by.

The van then rammed a Narra tree, which stood beside the opposite lane, before plunging off the cliff and down to the bottom estimated to be about 15 meters below.

The van landed upside-down with the passengers trapped inside. Patalinghug, his companions and responding barangay tanods helped each other in evacuating the passengers from the van and taking them to the hospital on board their barangay service vehicle.

Tundag, a resident of Barangay Prensa, Balamban, is also the operator of his van which he has been driving for five years. He denied reports that he fell asleep while driving and instead blamed a female passenger seated behind him for causing the accident.

He said the female passenger, who thought he was sleeping, suddenly hit his hand to get his attention and caused him to lose control.

“Pagkurbada nako, mikawat ko sa pikas lane para maklaro ang unahan. Pagdayon kurbada, gihapak ko sa babaye sa akong kamot kay nakatog daw ko, wala baya. Nawad-an ko’g kontrol sa manobila nya mibangga mi sa narra dayon katagak sa ubos,” he said.

He said what made the situation worse that the road was slippery because it was raining. He said he has been using the Transcentral Highway for a long time and is familiar with the road.

They departed the terminal around 12:40 p.m., he said, when the van, with a 14-passenger capacity, was fully loaded.

They then headed for the Citilink Terminal along N. Bacalso Avenue, this city. Most of his passengers, he said, were students.

The driver, who was injured in the shoulder and the knee, said he will make negotiations with the hospital regarding the expenses of the victims.

The tanods collected the belongings of the victims left inside the van, including Tundag’s driver’s license, and placed them in two sacks. The victims can later retrieve their things at the barangay hall, barangay officials said.

Jayme said they will file a case of reckless imprudence resulting to multiple physical injuries against Tundag who is now detained at the detention cell.

Last year on June 23, 21 people, most of them Iranian medical students, were killed after their bus plunged off a cliff also beside the Transcentral Highway in Barangay Cansumuroy, Balamban. –/BRP (FREEMAN)