CEBU CITY – The relatives of those who were killed and injured in a vehicular accident in Boljoon, Cebu last Friday are pursuing charges against the truck driver.
Charges of reckless imprudence resulting in multiple homicide and multiple physical injuries will be filed today against Danilo Mendez Niere.
“We have already secured the affidavits of the complainants. It will be filed today,” Police Lt. Roland Pogoy, chief of the Boljoon police station, said.
Niere has sought forgiveness from the victims and claimed that what happened was an accident. “I am asking forgiveness from the parents of the children. I checked the vehicle beforehand to ensure the safety of the children. It was an accident,” Niere said at the town health center where he and the injured passengers were brought.
Niere, who was been working with the Boljoon municipal government for a year, denied the allegations that he was drunk during the incident. “According to the initial test, he was not drunk. Our investigator said he didn’t smell something that would prove he had drank alcoholic drinks prior to the incident. We are still awaiting the results of the test of the doctor who conducted a thorough examination on the driver,” Pogoy said.
Niere claimed that the truck’s brakes malfunctioned, forcing him to ram the vehicle into a slope and prevent it from falling off a cliff. The impact, however, forced the truck to overturn, pinning some of the passengers to death.
Pogoy clarified that only seven of the nine fatalities were elementary students.
One of the fatalities was 40-year-old Victoria Gorozon, who accompanied her nine-year-old daughter Elvie Jean in the trip, said Pogoy. Elvie Jean was one of the 22 passengers who survived.
Also killed was 20-year-old Alexander Villanueva, who was with his nine-year-old brother Adrian and mother Susan in the ill-fated truck.
Alexander, a Grade 11 student, and his mother joined the trip to support Adrian, who, along with fellow pupils from Nangka Elementary School and San Antonio Elementary Schools, was supposed to participate in the district nutrition and cultural sports meet at the town center.
The Cebu provincial government assured that they will shoulder the hospitalization and burial expenses of the victims.
Cebu Gov. Gwen Garcia on Saturday visited the wake of the victims at the Boljoon sports complex. Garcia has instructed town officials not to use dump trucks in transporting passengers to avoid similar incident from happening again. (Calvin D. Cordova)