Group lands in hospital after road accident

CEBU, Philippines — A passenger van carrying 11 Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) workers, including three foreign nationals, figured in an accident yesterday morning when its brakes malfunctioned as the vehicle was traversing the Trans Central Highway in Barangay Cansomoroy in Balamban town, Cebu.

The van crashed into concrete drainage and several of the passengers, including the driver, had to be brought to a district hospital nearby because of injuries. Some of them who incurred more serious injuries had to be transported back to a hospital in Cebu City.

Initial investigation revealed that the group was travelling to the Foressa Mountain Resort in Balamban from the IT Park in Cebu City for a trekking activity. However, the van’s brakes reportedly malfunctioned as they were maneuvering downhill in Barangay Cansomoroy. At this point, the driver had reportedly lost control of the vehicle.

The passengers were identified as Indian national Dinesh Shetty, French nationals  Rajsi Huwaldir and Bennish Jinerdeb,  Christian Ticod, Brian Caramba, Moses Cruz, Fel Hoy, Jordan Fernandez, Marcelo Caneja, Aljude Abag, and Shiene Rubio.

The driver was identified as Renato Pinote Arcenal.

Police Major Christian Torres of the Balamban Police said Arcenal may face possible charges of reckless imprudence resulting in homicide and multiple physical injuries if his passengers will choose to pursue the cases.

Arcenal said the area where the accident happened is considered accident prone, as it is five kilometers downhill.

It is the same place where a bus carrying Iranian nationals also crashed in June 2010, killing at least 20.

“Kanang ilang nabanggaan, actually, accident prone area man gud na sya… daghan na ang na disgrasya dira kay five kilometers downhill, padung na gyud siya ubos tanan (The area is accident prone… many have figured in an accident there because that’s five kilometers downhill),” Torres said.

“Mostly, mahurot gyud ang brake sa kanang dili sweto… sige lang ug tamak sa brake nya bug-at imong sakay, mao ng mubigay gyud kasagaran ang mga brake dira (Often, if you’re not familiar with the place, the tendency is to step on the break all the time so it will really give in, especially if you have heavy cargo),” he added.

Torres said that perhaps crashing the van was a good move, otherwise, the vehicle would slid right downhill without control.

“Tungod lagi sa design sa kalsada… ato gung gi-kuan (hangyo) nga as much as possible, dili gyud magpakusog ug dagan, nya i-observe ang 40 kph ang dagan para dili ma-over speeding (Because of the design or the road, we always urge drivers to observe the 40 kilometers per hour speed limit),” Torres said. (FREEMAN)