41 killed in Benguet bus mishap

SABLAN, Benguet, Philippines – Forty-one passengers of a La Union-bound bus were killed when it fell into a ravine yesterday morning in what could be the worst highway disaster here.

Initial reports showed that the ill-fated ESO-Nice bus (AYB-549) lost its brakes before falling into a 30-meter ravine along sitio Guiwing, Banangan, Sablan at around 9:20 a.m.

Police identified some of the fatalities as Johnson Dimalanta, Frederick and Rose Quinos and their children Nicole and Michael, Berio Almasen, Carlos Angeles, Amethyst Calado, Enrique Hao, Renato Limid, Rex Arsichu, Constantino Casugay, Glen Lustica, Octavio Polon, Francisco Sales, Jon Laigo, Joy Combis, Pastora Daweg, Marlon Paleg, Gabino Pilay, Pablito Diocenes, Roger Torida and Karen Mae Piluden.

Romeo Subang Jr., driver of the bus, died while being treated in a hospital.

Thirteen others, four of them Filipino-Americans, were unidentified as of press time.

Seven people survived the mishap and were rushed to the Baguio General Hospital and Medical Center.

They were identified as Sonny Ayaten, Desiree Jura, Arnel Paras, Juantri Gutcha, Jay Angelo, bus conductor John Patrick Flores and an unidentified man.

Flores said Subang was negotiating a sharp curve while trying to shift to second gear but lost control of the bus. He said the driver tried to prevent the disaster by ramming the bus on concrete barriers along the roadside to slow down its descent but failed.

Sensing danger, Flores said he jumped out of the vehicle before it fell into the ravine.

“The area where the bus fell is a sharp curve and the ravine was so deep,” said Senior Superintendent Wilben Mayor, Benguet Police Provincial Office, who went to the area to supervise and assist in the rescue and retrieval operations.

Mayor said one of the victims was pinned down in the wreckage of the bus, making it hard for operatives to retrieve the remains.

The police official said the bus could have avoided falling into the ravine if it hit the tree or a nipa hut on the edge of the road.

He said the skid mark of the vehicle showed the bus passed between the house and the tree.

Benguet Gov. Nestor Fongwan immediately formed the Provincial Disaster Coordinating Council and personally supervised the rescue and retrieval operations in the area that lasted for over six hours.

Mayor said over 50 people from the Provincial Government, local police and Philippine Army took part in the operations. “The victims were taken out of the wreckage through stretchers and most of them suffered severe bone fractures,” he said.

He said the incident will be investigated thoroughly to determine if it was an accident or caused by human error.

In recent years, barangay Banangan has been the site of numerous vehicular mishaps claiming scores of lives.

Suspended

Meanwhile, the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) suspended the ESO-Nice franchise for one month pending the investigation of the regional office of the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC).

LTFRB chairman Dante Lantin said that aside from the ill-fated bus, three other units were also covered by the franchise valid until June 2011.

ESO-Nice Bus Transport Service is managed by the Nisce family in La Union but the unit involved in the accident was owned by a certain Arsenio Monis of Bilis, Burgos, La Union and was only connected with the franchise.

“Let me clarify that the bus is not ours but owned by an associate (in the franchise). Passengers and the bus were covered by insurance,” said La Union Vice Gov. Aureo Nisce when asked about the incident.

Lantin said that apart from investigating possible lapses on the part of the bus company, the government will also make sure that all the victims in the accident will be attended to by the bus company’s insurance provider.

He said the families of those who died will each receive P60,000 in assistance, while those who were injured will be given P12,500. Hospitalization expenses beyond the insurance coverage will be shouldered by the bus firm. – Jun Elias, Cecille Suerte Felipe, Andy Zapata, Reinir Padua