City to help victims of garbage truck

CEBU, Philippines - Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama promised financial assistance and other forms of aid to the families of the casualties of the recent traffic incident involving a garbage truck owned by the city government.

He also ordered the revisiting of his proposal to outsource the maintenance of over 1,200 city vehicles to ensure that someone will be held liable during accidents that would involve malfunctions.

Currently, maintenance of city vehicles is handled by the maintenance section of the General Services Office while maintenance of garbage trucks is under the Department of Public Services.

The garbage truck allegedly lost brakes while maneuvering on a downhill curve in Sitio Oprra, Barangay Kalunasan last Thursday killing two people and injuring at seven others. The vehicle was lent to the barangay while its own garbage truck was under repair.

In a test conducted by the DPS yesterday, it was found out that there was no problem with the brakes.

DPS driver Raphael Castañares drove the car back and forth several times and reported that the vehicle’s brakes are properly functioning.

Engineer Dionisio Gualiza, head of the DPS, said that the ill-fated Hino brand truck was purchased as brand new three years ago.

It is one of the 20 garbage trucks of the DPS that undergo regular maintenance.

Gualiza said that he would not be surprised if some trucks have shorter lifespan since they are used 24 hours to collect the city’s garbage to maintain cleanliness.

But he assured that the truck was in good condition when it departed the DPS parking area at 11:35 a.m. Thursday. The accident happened at 2 p.m. on the same day.

Gualiza assured that all their trucks are undergoing regular maintenance and are roadworthy before they allow it to depart from their parking area.

Rama has ordered the DPS to stop lending trucks to the barangays when their own trucks are under repair. He said he would prefer that the city would take over the collection of garbage in barangays that do not have garbage vehicles.

The city government also promised to shoulder the hospitalization expenses of those injured who were identified as Alvin Medija, Charles James Bacunawa, Shine Nicole Romanaso, Jiovani Ocampo, Leopoldo Ocampo, Sally Phala and the driver Gerardo Lasangue.

The fatalities are Elvie Mabatin and Joseph delos Santos, residents of sitios Unit 5 and Unit 3 of the said barangay. (FREEMAN)