Still no justice for journalist killed in 2011 road mishap

MANILA, Philippines - More than two years have passed since journalist Lourdes “Chit” Simbulan was killed in a road mishap, but the prosecution panel has yet to finish presenting its evidence against the drivers of the buses involved in the accident.

An employee at the Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 83 said yesterday the trial of Daniel Espinosa of Universal Guiding Star and Victor Ancheta of Nova Auto Transport Inc. is still ongoing.

Espinosa and Ancheta, who both entered a not guilty plea, are out on bail after being charged with reckless imprudence resulting in damage to property and homicide.

The court staff said the next hearing is set on April 2.

Simbulan, also a journalism professor at the University of the Philippines, died on May 13, 2011 while in a taxi on her way to meet friends at the UP Ayala Land Technohub along Commonwealth Avenue.

Espinosa was the driver of the bus that rammed the rear of the taxi carrying Simbulan. He turned himself over to the police after surrendering to then Davao City vice mayor and now Mayor Rodrigo Duterte.

Evidence showed that Ancheta drove the bus that first sideswiped the taxi before it was hit by Espinosa’s vehicle.

During the preliminary investigation, Espinosa claimed that he only hit the taxi as the bus driven by Ancheta hit it first, causing the cab to careen into his path.

Meanwhile, Ancheta denied hitting the cab, adding that he did not feel anything that would indicate he hit the vehicle first.

Prosecutor Ronald Torrijos had said in August 2011 that “the combined or concurrent recklessness of Espinosa and Ancheta was the direct cause of the deceased and property damages to the taxi being driven by (Vito) Jagunos. Espinosa’s recklessness is as much the proximate cause of the mishap as that of Ancheta.”

The charge against the taxi driver was dismissed for insufficiency of evidence.

Following the incident, various measures were implemented to minimize accidents in Commonwealth Avenue, tagged as the “killer highway.”

Among these were the setting of a 60-kilometer per hour speed limit, the incorporation of motorcycle lanes, and the construction raised barriers to separate private cars from public utility vehicles.