CEBU, Philippines - Passengers of a Librando bus from the town of Badian bound for Cebu City were bruised and wounded when the bus crashed into a center island and fell on its side in Poblacion, Minglanilla town yesterday.
Marcelino Balingit, 50, of Moalboal Town, admitted that he drank a few bottles of beer before he left Badian at around 3:30 am but denied that it affected his driving.
“Kay kung namakak ko dugay na mi nabangga,(Had I been lying, we would have met an accident earlier.) ” he said.
Instead, he claimed that he lost control of the bus, bearing plate number GXJ-581.
He blamed the accident on the steering wheel which allegedly malfunctioned a few seconds before they hit the center island.
Balingit said the problem of the steering wheel was due to the lack of maintenance for their buses.
“Ma-check ra gyud na basta mo-start na og wobble ang ligid, (It’s only checked when the wheels start to wobble.)” he said.
To avoid more people from being injured in the crash, Balingit said he opted to hit the center island.
The crash damaged the center island’s iron grills and shattered its cement support.
Balingit, together with his bus conductor and 12 other passengers, were all thrown from their seats due to the impact.
The passengers were wounded and were brought to various hospitals in Cebu City for medical treatment.
The bus was reportedly travelling 70 to 80 kilometers per hour when it hit the center island.
Victor Boquia, 59, of Ronda, one of the bus passengers, told The FREEMAN that they were already complaining about Balingit’s driving since he boarded the bus in Dumanjug.
Aside from speeding, Boquia said the bus reportedly zigzagged a couple of times in Dumanjug, Barili and Carcar.
The bus driver admitted the passengers’ allegations that he was racing with another speeding Ceres bus.
“Tinuod gyud to nga nakipag-sparring ko sa Ceres. (It’s true that I was sparring with the Ceres bus.)” Balingita said.
The bus driver is currently detained at the Minglanilla Police Station while charges of reckless imprudence resulting to damage to property and physical injuries are being prepared against him.
The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board is giving the management of Librando Bus Liners 72 hours to file their incident report regarding the incident.
LTFRB-7 regional director Ahmed Cuizon said that this is a normal procedure in case a bus meets an accident. LTFRB assistant regional director Reynaldo Elnar said that if found that the involved bus has a mechanical defect, all the Librando buses shall be made to undergo road worthiness tests by the Motor Vehicle Inspection Section of the Land Transportation Office.
He added that the bus has a registered franchise which will expire on September 2012. Its franchise has a registered route of Cebu-Alegria-Cebu. — (FREEMAN)