Five dead in accidents

CEBU, Philippines - Five people, a minor included, died in separate road accidents in Cebu City and Province over the weekend. Two other minors were also injured.

In Ronda town last Saturday, a five-year-old boy identified as James Requilme died when he was hit by a speeding truck at past 9 a.m. along the national road in Barangay Palanas. The child was on vacation in the town with his family. The family is from Consolacion.

Police Officer 3 Pipo Ansag said the child’s parents did not notice that the boy crossed the street at the time an Isuzu delivery truck driven by Jezelito Cuevas, 35, was fast approaching. The truck was delivering fish to the public market in Barangay Poblacion.

Cuevas, however, surrendered to the police.

In Barili town an hour later, a man died while his two sisters, both minors, were injured after the motorcycle they were riding lost balance when hit by a minibus in Barangay Tubod at past 10 a.m.

Police Officer 2 Richard Cababat said the siblings were tailing the Isuzu Elf minibus driven by one Vick Oraga when the motorcycle tried to drive past the bigger vehicle at a curve. However, a passenger bus traveling at the opposite lane prevented the motorcycle from doing so and just as Noel Manigos tried to maneuver the motorcycle back to its position, the Isuzu Elf accidentally hit it. 

 Manigos lost control of the motorcycle and he and his sisters, Rosemae, 12, and Fatima, 7, were thrown off the vehicle.

The three were brought to the Barili District Hospital but Manigos did not make it there alive. The girls were transferred to a hospital in Cebu City for further treatment.

Oraga surrendered to the police and turned over his the minibus he was driving.

Afternoon on the same day, another accident involving a motorcycle and a minibus in San Remigio town led to the death of two men – Ralph Marvin Rosellosa, 20, and Josefino Gestra Jr., 23.

The two were driving toward Barangay Poblacion when  the motorcycle they were riding collided with a minibus driven by Randy Pelicano, 25, at a blind curve. Rosellosa and Gestra were thrown off the vehicle and did not make it alive to the Bogo Provincial Hospital.

Pelicano is now detained at the police stockade.

Also last Saturday morning, a man died after the motorcycle he was driving rammed into a taxi in General Maxilom Avenue, Cebu City.

Investigation revealed that Rolanda Zafra was maneuvering his taxi when the motorcycle driven by Peter Pabatang, 38, hit the side of the vehicle. Pabatang was thrown off his bike and sustained serious injuries. Hours later, he passed away at the Sacred Heart Hospital.

Senior Police Officer 1 Dionesio Almaden said charges for reckless imprudence resulting to homicide and damage to property will be filed against Zafra.  (FREEMAN)