Filipino nurse in Bangkok still can’t visit daughter hurt in Batangas road accident

BANGKOK, Thailand — “It was the longest day of my life,” Louela Cordova-Acedera, an overseas Filipino worker in Thailand, told INQUIRER.net in a recent interview.

She was referring to the day her 11-year-old daughter Amira Denise had an accident, along with seven other students and five teachers, when the van they were riding on hit a tree in Ibaan town in Batangas last March 13.

Amira was among the delegates of the Occidental Mindoro who participated in the recent 2020 National Schools Press Conference (NSPC) held in Tuguegarao City, Cagayan Valley from March 9 to 13.

Marie Joy Maming, a teacher from Manoot, San Jose, Occidental Mindoro died in the accident.

READ: Teacher dies after van carrying NSPC delegates figures in Batangas mishap

Acedera, a nurse by profession, is a lecturer at Christian University of Thailand.

She still can’t come home to visit her daughter, nor could she attend her father’s funeral on March 17, because President Rodrigo Duterte had declared a community quarantine on the whole of Metro Manila, due the COVID-19 pandemic.

Although international flights, including the Bangkok-Manila route, is still operating, traveling from Metro Manila to provinces is no longer possible.

So Acedera closely monitors her daughter’s situation via messenger chat or video messages.

The girl is confined at Batangas Healthcare Specialist Medical Center due to a blood clot on the left side of the brain.

Responsibility

In an interview, Arnie Ventura, the Assistant Schools Division Superintendent (ASDS) of Occidental Mindoro said that the Department of Education of Occidental Mindoro immediately sent assistance to the injured.

Gov. Ed Gadiano also provided vehicles to transport the body of Maming and the other students who had minor injuries back to Occidental Mindoro. Rep. Josephine Sato also promised financial assistance.

“Actually, we sourced out financial assistance from our colleagues in the DepEd,” Ventura said.

He further stressed that the DepEd higher officials advised them that the financial support would be provided to the injured.

Aside from the fatality, only Amira suffered a serious head injury.

As a nurse, Acedera knows the extent of the injury based on the assessment provided to her.

“Presently, Amira does not need an operation. But the therapy which includes continuous medication lasts two to three months, excluding check-ups and other evaluations,” Acedera says.

Who will shoulder the expenses?

For his part, Ventura could not speak yet on behalf of the DepEd.

“We do not have a contingency fund for such an incident. The school usually covers travel and food expenses,” he said.

According to Acedera, her daughter had no travel insurance or any other insurance to cover her medical expenses.

However, DepEd Order No. 40 series of 2012, in accordance with Article 218 of the Family Code of the Philippines, school administrators, teachers, academic and nonacademic and other personnel should exercise special parental authority and responsibility for a child while under their supervision, instruction and custody.

That applies to all authorized activities whether inside or outside the premises of the school.

“DepEd is liable,” lawyer Joel Jabal, president of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines-Oriental Mindoro, told INQUIRER.net in an interview. “The teachers and the driver are liable. Although DepEd may invoke immunity from suit, they are supposed to shoulder the medical expenses. Normally, [there would be] civil action for damages.”

Gerome Nicolas Dela Peña, a teacher at Our Lady of Fatima University-Antipolo, said: “Our school asked our parents to sign a waiver/permit in any school activities. Essentially, it contains that the DepEd has no responsibility to the students even though it is a school-sanctioned activity.”

Jesse James Pigon, a former campus journalist, now a teacher at Bicol University shared that in his time, they never discussed accidents or any untoward events that would happen to them during such activities.

Despite the risks, Acedera allowed Amira to join school activities to boost her confidence. She entrusted her daughter to her coach, Elena Tugade, every time there was a school competition.

Since she became an OFW in 2013, Acedera left Amira to her parents’ care in San Jose, Occidental Mindoro.

According to Ventura, DepEd Undersecretary Alain Del Pascua promised to extend assistance to Amira and to the deceased family of the teacher. Unfortunately, no one from the national office was able to visit Batangas due to the impending travel restrictions outside of Manila.

Plans?

Ventura admitted that there might have been lapses.

However, Ventura also said that orientation, plans, precautionary measures when traveling were left to the discretion of regional directors or the higher officials since these would entail applying policies.

Citing his experience as a former delegate to the NSPC, Pigon said it was important to inform or to discuss scenarios like accidents, so the students and the parents would know what to do or what not to do.

Acedera was sure whether the school or Amira’s coach gave an orientation. She also insisted that the school must shoulder the medical and therapy expenses of Amira since the press conference was a school-sanctioned activity.

“Teachers sacrifice not only their time but also their lives in those school-related activities. Usually, the responsibilities over the students are given solely to the teachers and not to the organization. This only shows the weak system of the department,” Dela Peña says.

/atm