Smash-up victims won’t be compensated — MNTC

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO — The victims of the 16-vehicle smash-ups on the rain-soaked southbound lane of the North Luzon Expressway (NLEX) in Guiguinto, Bulacan last Wednesday are not entitled to any compensation from the Manila North Tollways Corp. (MNTC).

Marlene Ochoa, MNTC director for corporate communications, said the MNTC did not offer compensation to victims of past accidents on the NLEX.

She, however, added that the MNTC’s legal department still has to come up with an official position on the issue.

The STAR tried to contact the legal department but no one was available for interview.

Last Wednesday’s smash-ups at Kilometers 39, 40 and 41 left three people dead, including the wife of Subic, Zambales Mayor Jeffrey Konghun, and 16 others injured.

In a statement, the Road Users Protection Advocates (RUPA), a non-government organization, said its lawyers would extend legal assistance to the victims who, it claimed, deserve compensation from the NLEX operator.

"The MNTC can do its own investigation but we want an investigation by an independent body on why these accidents happened," said lawyer Efren Carag, a RUPA convenor.

"We want to know if the NLEX builders complied with international standards on road safety," he added.

Citing their initial investigation, MNTC officials earlier blamed the smash-ups on a van driver’s reckless driving. They, however, said their investigation was still ongoing.

Ochoa said enough safety features have been installed along the expressway, including electronic boards reminding motorists about safe driving and the road conditions, especially during inclement weather.

"We don’t want to appear insensitive, but we have exerted our best to make the expressway safe for motorists. In turn, we expect the motorists to be responsive to our call for measures to make their travel safe," she said.

"We would like to assure the public that the entire length of the expressway is safe," she said.

"Every phase of the construction of the expressway was audited rigidly by both the government and its Australian contractors," she added.

MNTC traffic control specialist Rod Sicatore said the smash-ups were triggered by a Hi-Ace van whose driver lost control of the wheel, sending the vehicle into turning turtle.

Although a maximum speed limit of 100 kilometers per hour has been imposed along the NLEX, the MNTC lamented that many motorists violate this.

Meanwhile, one of those injured, Leticia Palad, 52, said she survived the accident because of the Black Nazarene whose image she saw before their Genesis Liner bus crashed into the vehicle in front of it.

Doctors, though, had to amputate all five toes of the left foot of Palad, who supplies sampaguita garlands to vendors at Quiapo Church where the Black Nazarene is enshrined.

Palad was seated behind the bus driver, who was one of those killed in the accident. — With James Mananghaya