QC court convicts bus drivers over death of journalist Chit Estella

MANILA, Philippines — A Quezon City court has sentenced two bus drivers to two years in prison over a road crash that claimed the life of veteran journalist Chit Estella in 2011 — a decision that ends over a decade of waiting for justice for her family and colleagues.

Judge Ralph Lee of the Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 83 found Daniel Espinosa and Victor Ancheta guilty beyond reasonable doubt of reckless imprudence resulting in damage to property with homicide, according to a nine-page decision dated April 22.

Noting the drivers' poor financial standing, the court ordered the registered owners of the Universal Guiding Star Bus Line Corp. and Nova Auto Transport Bus Corporation to pay over P7.46 million in moral and exemplary damages to the family of Estella, also known as Lourdes Estella-Simbulan.

“Finally, a long-overdue decision that brings the two drivers and their bus companies to justice… Chit can finally rest in peace,” said Estella’s husband, retired University of the Philippines (UP) professor Roland Simbulan, in a VERA Files report.

In 2011, Estella was on her way to a dinner with friends at Ayala Technohub and was traversing Commonwealth Avenue when Ancheta, who drove the Nova bus, hit the taxi she was riding on the right side.

This caused the taxi to swerve in the path of Espinosa, driver of the Universal Guiding Star bus, who rammed the taxi's rear end, causing Estella's demise. 

Espinosa was "driving his bus at a fast pace," the court decision noted, which led him to slam into the taxi vehicle that caused Estella's fatal head injuries.

Both bus drivers "had the last clear chance to avoid the collision had they exercised reasonable care and precaution in driving their respective buses," the decision said.

The ruling also noted Estella's "immense contributions... as one of the country's premier academicians and journalists." 

Estella's death spurred the enforcement of road safety laws in the country, particularly Republic Act 10916, or the Road Speed Limiter Act of 2016, which aims to prevent road crashes by installing speed limiters in vehicles. 

Over a year after her death, the Quezon City government also installed a Commonwealth Road Safety Marker on a sidewalk near the Ayala TechnoHub in her honor.

Estella 'chose the hard choices' in defense of truth

Estella led an illustrious career both in the media and the academe. 

During the early years of the Martial Law regime, Estella was one of many student journalists writing for the Philippine Collegian who took a strong editorial stance against the Marcos dictatorship. Estella penned stories exposing human rights abuses, corruption and administration wrongdoing, among others.

In her professional career, Estella is perhaps best known for having served as editor-in-chief of the Pinoy Times, a Filipino-language tabloid notable for its critical coverage of then-President Joseph Estrada. Before that, she spent short stints as editor at the Philippine Daily Inquirer and the Manila Times. 

Estella is also one of many key figures whose name is carved into the remembrance walls of the Bantayog ng mga Bayani. On its website, the Bantayog ng mga Bayani described Estella in the eyes of her colleagues as a "compassionate, but principled and straight-as-an-arrow journalist, who chose the hard choices because it was what it meant to be committed to the truth."
 
Later, the veteran journalist went on to teach at the University of the Philippines College of Mass Communication (CMC) for a decade before her untimely death, training future generations of media practitioners. 

Today, a ring of Narra and Fire trees that were planted in front of the UP CMC Film Center during her memorial service 13 years ago remain standing.