Armored vans hit MMDA enforcer, motorcyclist

MANILA, Philippines — A Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) enforcer and a motorcycle-riding man were hospitalized after they were hit by armored vehicles in separate accidents yesterday.

Traffic Constable 3 Maricel Gammad, 27, was manning traffic along EDSA’s northbound yellow lane in Barangay E. Rodriguez when she was thrown several meters after being hit by an armored van driven by Dennis Ellaraiz, 40, at around 10 a.m.

She was declared clinically dead at the East Avenue Medical Center after sustaining head injuries, MMDA spokesperson Celine Pialago said.

Several witnesses said the armored van (WHZ-330), owned by the Royal Mandarin Security Agency, was speeding toward the yellow lane coming from the Cubao tunnel when it hit Gammad.

Ellaraiz refused to get out of the vehicle for around two hours until police responded and a backup armored car from the company arrived. 

He later told probers that he was going towards the yellow lane, meant for exclusively for public utility vehicles and those exiting EDSA, as he was going towards Nepa Q-Mart near Kamias Road. 

Ellaraiz is currently detained at the Quezon City Police District’s Traffic Enforcement Unit and will be charged with reckless imprudence resulting in homicide. 

In Makati City, a 47-year-old man driving a motorcycle was injured when an armored vehicle hit him yesterday afternoon.

Yung-chin Chang of McKinley Hill in Bonifacio Global City, Taguig, was on EDSA’s southbound lane when a Dasia armored vehicle (conduction number 6346) driven by Rogelio Guiang hit him, the MMDA said.

Chang was treated at a hospital for abrasions on both hands, his left shoulder and right knee, the MMDA said.

The accident caused heavy traffic from EDSA-Orense to Ayala Avenue’s southbound lane during yesterday’s afternoon rush hour, the MMDA said.