Driver of bus believed to be the first to hit journalist’s cab surfaces

MANILA, Philippines – A driver of the Nova Auto Transport bus believed to be the first to hit the cab carrying journalist Chit Estella Simbulan has surfaced to deny any liability in the May 13 accident that killed the journalist.

Driver Victor Ancheta presented himself to the Quezon City Police District’s Traffic Enforcement Unit on Thursday and maintained his bus did not ram Simbulan’s cab that night along Commonwealth Ave., Quezon City.

However, Superintendent Arnold Santiago, TEU chief, said they would wait for Ancheta’s counter-affidavit and submit it to the prosecutor hearing the reckless imprudence case against Daniel Espinosa, the driver of the Universal Guiding Star bus that crashed into the back of the car, pinning Simbulan.

(Initial information gathered by the police from the accident site showed that a first bus hit Simbulan’s taxi cab before Espinosa’s bus hit it from behind.)

Espinosa was charged last month with reckless imprudence resulting in homicide and damage to property and abandonment of one’s own victim.

According to Senior Police Officer 2 Crisaldo Nemenzo, Ancheta admitted on Thursday that he was driving the Nova bus TXE 721, with body number “080,” along Commonwealth Ave. in Quezon City that night but claimed he never hit Simbulan’s cab, which was on its way to the UP Ayala Land Technohub.

The QCPD TEU issued a “notice of appearance” to Santiago after district director ordered a reinvestigation into the veteran journalist’s death.

Espinosa, his lawyer Salvador Panelo, and UGS claimed that a Nova Auto Transport bus was the first to sideswipe the cab before Espinosa hit it.

The UGS driver even claimed that two Nova buses were racing against each other moments before the tragedy.

Espinosa fled and left behind his bus at the crash site, but surrendered to Davao City Vice Mayor Rodrigo Duterte nearly a week after the accident.

According to the QCPD’s “paint analysis,” another bus indeed hit the taxicab before Espinosa’s, based on green stains at the point of impact which did not match with the paint of the UGS bus.

Police said Ancheta’s unit was identified through eyewitness accounts and a plate number previously released by the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority.

Ancheta was accompanied by his lawyer Marvey Jay Gonzalez, who assured police they would submit the counter affidavit soon.

Apart from Ancheta’s counter affidavit, Santiago said they would also submit to the Quezon City prosecutors’ office the results of the reinvestigation, including the paint analysis findings.