Pagdanganan’s son hailed as ‘commuter protection hero’

The National Council for Commuter Protection Inc. (NCCPI), a non-governmental organization, conferred yesterday the "Hero of Commuter Protection" award to Roberto Raymond Pagdanganan, son of Secretary Roberto Pagdanganan, chairman and president of the Philippine International Trading Corp. (PITC), who died in a vehicular accident last Sunday morning.

Elvira Medina, NCCPI president, said the award was given to the young Pagdanganan for sacrificing his own life to save two commuters in Malolos City, Bulacan last Sunday.

The young Pagdanganan was on board his Nissan Patrol when he figured in a vehicular accident along MacArthur Highway in Barangay San Pablo, Malolos after avoiding a tricycle with no taillight. The left rear tire of his Nissan Patrol burst before the car overturned and hit a lamppost.

He was first brought to the Sacred Heart Hospital in Malolos and later transferred to St. Luke’s Medical Center in Quezon City where he died at 3 p.m. of the same day.

The NCCPI, in a press statement, said Raymond knew that if he continued on, he would hit the tricycle, and instead of taking the chance by going head-on, he chose to avoid hitting the tricycle.

"People say that young people, especially the rich, the influential and the powerful, do not have any concern for the poor nor do they care for the less fortunate; Raymond proved them wrong," it said.

"It is said that the best proof of friendship is to give up one’s life for a friend, but it is a supreme sacrifice to give up one’s life for strangers," it added.

Raymond’s body was transferred yesterday from Sta. Maria della Strada Parish in La Vista, Quezon City to the Sto. Niño Chapel in Calumpit, Bulacan. He will be buried at the Calumpit Memorial Park on Sunday.