He can’t claim ignorance about the horrible fate of 11 people in a dumptruck accident in Barili town, still in southern Cebu, where the government vehicle went out of control downhill, crashed and killed them.
Like Dianon’s case, the fatal trip involved a funeral.
Not a few people expect him to remember this, and the DILG order that was released after the tragedy, which was objected to by the Capitol and Cebu local government units.
As a driver, Dianon was told to transport some persons to a funeral in barangay Candees, Badian town. Among those injured was Dianon’s wife, 5-year-old daughter and eight others.
Dianon will certainly be charged. We don’t know if the Capitol and local officials will extend legal assistance to him, which is a pity since he was only following orders.
But Dianon’s predicament runs eerily similar to what happened in August last year, when 11 Barili residents were killed after a dump truck they rode on fell into a ravine.
Dianon can thank divine intervention that his passengers survived. He may escape culpability if the victims decide forego filing charges against him.
Tuesday’s accident in Badian town reinforces the DILG argument about the danger of using it to transport people, instead of cargo. In remote areas, these heavy duty government trucks are the only “free rides” for rural folk. In community events like funeral processions, the trucks are packed full of people, some sitting on plastic stools if they’re lucky, or just standing, leaning on each other with nothing to hang on to for stability except the sides of the truck.
One lurch, or collission, and the impact is sure to put passengers at risk. In the Badian case, one of the locks in the truck’s back trailer was loosened, causing passengers to fall off.
What’s to prevent similar accidents in the future? Traffic enforcers aren’t monitoring backroads in rural areas. They have their hands full trying to monitor overloaded vehicles in the highways.
The DILG policy is clear: a dump truck is for transporting cargo and materials, not people. Public safety is the goal.
With the Capitol boasting more than a billion pesos in cash assets, surely it can spare funds to buy minibuses or utility vehicles for towns to use to transport people during emergencies.