Bus driver shot dead in road rage incident in Pangasinan-Tarlac boundary

DAGUPAN CITY – A bus driver was shot dead Saturday afternoon in what could be a road rage incident at the national highway near the boundary of Rosales, Pangasinan and San Manuel, Tarlac.

Police identified the victim as Joseph Villacorta, driver of a Metro Manila-bound Solid North Bus and resident of Urdaneta City. He was shot by Frederick dela Cruz, 35, a businessman, who resides in Quezon City.

In a text message to the Philippine Daily Inquirer, Senior Inspector Ryan Manongdo, Pangasinan police spokesperson, said the passenger bus and Dela Cruz’s pick-up truck were both traveling in the slow-moving southbound lane of the national highway at about 3:30 p.m. Saturday, when for a still unclear reason, Villacorta and Dela Cruz engaged in a shouting match.

Dela Cruz shot Villacorta, hitting him in the chest. Responding policemen took Villacorta to the Dr. Chan Memorial Hospital in Barangay Carmen in Rosales where doctors there pronounced him dead on arrival.

Dela Cruz escaped by boarding a passenger bus, according to his wife, Catherine dela Cruz, 33, who was driving the pick-up truck when policemen intercepted it in San Manuel, Tarlac.

Heavy traffic had been noted in Barangay Carmen because of the repair of a road section there and the Christmas sale at SM City Rosales, which is along the national highway, and the thousands of motorists heading back to Metro Manila after the holidays.

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