Drag-racing bus driver denies hitting taxi carrying journalist

MANILA, Philippines - A Nova Auto Transport driver, accused of being the one whose bus first hit the taxi carrying journalist Lourdes Simbulan, went to the Quezon City Police District (QCPD) yesterday to deny the charges.

Victor Ancheta appeared before the QCPD Traffic Enforcement Unit to say his bus did not crash into the taxicab that carried Simbulan on the night of May 13. Superintendent Arnold Santiago, head of the QCPD-TEU, said they will wait for Ancheta’s counter-affidavit and submit it before the fiscal hearing the case filed against Daniel Espinosa, bus driver of Universal Guiding Star.

Ancheta admitted yesterday that he was the driver of the Nova bus with body number “080” and plate number “TXE-721,” said Senior Police Officer 2 Crisaldo Nemenzo.

“Verbally he admitted he was the driver of that bus. But he said he avoided the taxicab and never hit it,” Nemenzo said in an interview, adding that Ancheta said “there was no collision that happened (between his bus and the taxicab).”

Ancheta’s appearance was prompted by a “notice of appearance” issued by Santiago’s office in the reinvestigation ordered by QCPD director Chief Superintendent George Regis.

This was after Espinosa, his lawyer Salvador Panelo, and Universal Guiding Star claimed that a Nova bus bumped into the taxicab before it was hit by Espinosa’s bus. They even claimed that the driver of Nova bus was drag racing against another Nova bus driver.

Santiago earlier said their “paint analysis” showed that another bus had indeed bumped the taxicab before it was hit by Espinosa’s bus. This was based on green stains at the point of impact at the back of the cab that did not match with the paint of Espinosa’s vehicle.

Nemenzo said Ancheta’s unit was identified through accounts of “eyewitnesses” and the plate number earlier released by the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority. Nemenzo said Ancheta was accompanied yesterday by lawyer Marvey Jay Gonzalez, who said they will submit the driver’s counter-affidavit soon.

Espinosa is facing before the fiscal a complaint for reckless imprudence resulting in homicide and damage to property and abandonment of one’s own victim. Espinosa fled and left behind his bus on the night of the crash and went to Davao City Vice Mayor Rodrigo Duterte after days in hiding.

Santiago said they will submit to the fiscal the result of their reinvestigation, including the paint analysis results.

“It would be up to the fiscal whether to issue a subpoena to get a sample from the Nova bus and compare it with the paint sample that we got from the taxicab,” he said.