Tabloid publisher killed in road mishap

A publisher of a weekly tabloid was killed by a trailer truck yesterday when he and his scooter were crushed while he was trying to overtake a pedicab on Road 10 yesterday in Navotas. His reporter, who was riding piggyback, escaped with his life jumping off the scooter just in the nick of time.

Senior Police Officer 3 Cesar Madlangsakay, Northern Traffic Enforcement Group (NTEG) investigator, identified the fatality as Joey Sacdalan, 45, publisher of the weekly Headline.

Sacdalan’s body was torn in half after the huge tires of the truck crushed him in the midsection. His reporter, Roberto Illut, 38, escaped with only minor abrasions in the arms and body.

Madlangsakay said the incident happened at around 12:30 p.m. while the victims were traveling from Manila towards Navotas.

Sacdalan tried to avoid an oncoming pedicab on the right but he apparently failed to see in his rear view mirror an Isuza tractor truck driven by Pablito Gayangos Jr., 42, immediately right behind him.

Illut saw the speeding truck behind them and jumped off. But it sent the scooter off balance and out of control, right into the path of the oncoming truck.

The truck driver was arrested. Madlangsakay said that charges of reckless imprudence resulting to homicide, physical injuries, and damage to property will be filed against Gayangos.

Road-10 and C-3 Road are accident-prone roads in Navotas and are the main thoroughfares for trucks ferrying cargo to and from the North and South Harbors. But despite that, tricycles and pedicabs — which are banned from highways — are also on the roads. — With Pete Laude