LUCENA CITY ? What wonders can a President?s 22-minute visit bring?

White envelopes with P50,000 in cash. Support for education. Swift transfer to a better hospital.

These came, along with President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo who visited the victims of the tragic bus accident here.

?Though I lost a son and nearly lost another one in the accident, the visit of President Arroyo helped ease my sufferings,? said Yolanda Borromeo, mother of two victims of the accident.

?I sincerely thank her for the visit,? she said.

Help for education

Arroyo promised help for the education of Borromeo?s other children.

Borromeo?s husband died August 15 and she was left alone to care for their children.

Borromeo?s son who died in the accident, Rolly, and elder brother Roger, wounded in the crash, were on their way to their father?s funeral when they met the accident.

Arroyo, who came with Transportation Secretary Leandro Mendoza and Alberto Suansing, chief of the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board, stayed for 22 minutes at the Quezon Medical Center (QMC) where survivors of the accident were recuperating from various injuries.

Not so surprised

Rosalinda Palma, QMC head nurse, said the patients had to be brought together in one room for the President?s visit.

Families of the victims, however, were unaware of Ms Arroyo?s visit.

?It?s really kind of her to visit us,? said Marites Dacuya, mother of victim Cristy, 16.

The President talked with six victims at their bedsides briefly and listened to doctors? narration of the patients? conditions.

The visit did wonders for the Dacuya family. Arroyo ordered Mendoza to help Cristy be moved to the Philippine General Hospital in Manila for further treatment.

Cristy, a village youth councilor in Ligao City, suffered serious injuries in the spleen and was declared in critical condition.

Weep

Her father wept openly upon seeing Arroyo by his daughter?s bedside.

An unidentified Malacañang employee handed out white envelopes containing P50,000 each to the victims after the President left.

Before the President?s arrival, Manuel Palacio, Personal Accident Managers Inc. (Pami) Claims Department manager, donated P2,000 each to the victims.

The victims? families said they borrowed money for transportation to get to this city.

Arroyo quickly ordered government agencies to crack down on reckless driving.

Shortly after midnight Sunday, a Lucena Lines bus collided with an A. Bragais Liner bus on the Maharlika Highway, instantly killing eight people. A ninth victim died in the hospital.

Forty other people were seriously injured.

The accident led to calls for the government to tightly regulate the operations of bus companies. Delfin T. Mallari Jr., Inquirer Southern Luzon