MANILA, Philippines — The family of a tricycle driver who was killed in a hit-and-run involving a pickup truck owned by a Quezon City Police District (QCPD) official criticized the policemen who were present at the scene for abandoning him.
Vilma Laroa, widow of Joel Laroa, said in an interview on news website QC News Today on Friday night that her husband would have been alive if the policemen “had brought him to a hospital, even if they just left him there.”
Surveillance camera footage obtained by The STAR showed the pickup truck of Lt. Col. Mark Julio Abong, chief of the QCPD criminal investigation and detection unit, running behind a patrol car along Anonas street in Barangay Quirino 2-A moments before it hit Laroa’s tricycle.
Another video showed the pickup truck parked with two people, including a policeman, beside it. Laroa’s family learned the patrol car was from QCPD Station 3.
Fighting back tears, Vilma said she would have forgiven the police officers if they rescued her husband, who was bleeding profusely from his injuries.
A third video showed Laroa lying motionless on his tricycle as bystanders were seeking help from barangay officials. Not a single policeman was present at the scene, based on the footage.