DEADLY MONDAY A collision between a wayward dump truck and a passenger van at Barangay Luhong in Antipas, Cotabato, past noon on Monday left 17 people dead, most of them were trapped and burned inside the van after it was hit by the truck, causing it to burst into flames. —MARK DALE MONTENEGRO
MANILA, Philippines — The bereaved families of the van driver and passengers who were killed in an accident in Cotabato will receive insurance claims of up to P200,000 under the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board’s (LTFRB) personal accident insurance program, the agency’s head said on Wednesday.
The accident occurred on March 25 in Antipas town after the passenger van collided with a cargo truck, resulting in the deaths of at least 17 people.
READ: Antipas tragedy: 17 die in Cotabato road accident
“We have already notified the consortium(s) of insurance [of the accident]. There are just two of them, PAMI [Passenger Accident Management and Insurance Agency] and SCCI [SCCI Management and Insurance Agency Corp.]. Regardless of who is at fault, the driver and passengers are automatically indemnified a certain amount of up to about P200,000,” LTFRB Chief Teofilo Guadiz III explained in a mix of Filipino and English in Kapihan sa Manila Bay.
The LTFRB chief likewise said that as of Wednesday morning, representatives from the two insurance consortiums are already on their way to Cotabato to distribute the indemnity claims.
SCCI’s website says that the LTFRB’s Passenger Personal Accident Insurance Program covers “any passenger (inclusive of driver and conductor, if applicable) whilst mounting into, dismounting from or traveling in the covered vehicle.”
Listed under SCCI’s benefits per passenger is a maximum amount of P400,000 for indemnity claims for accidental deaths, double what Guadiz said the insurance companies would provide to the victims of the tragic accident.
READ: Ex-village head lone survivor in collision that killed 17
As for the franchise of the passenger van’s operator, the LTFRB chief said that in accidents involving public utility vehicles resulting in deaths, the agency suspends the operator’s permit to ply the route where the accident occurred for 30 days.
The lone survivor in the accident is a 63-year-old former village head who is still recuperating at the Antipas Medical Specialist Hospital.
Based on the police’s initial investigation, driver Edwin Nasiad, 49, lost control of the truck which then collided with the van driven by Mark Anthony Bunda, 26.
The driver and 16 others were burned to death after the van flipped twice, plunged into a drainage canal, and burst into flames.
READ: 17 dead in Cotabato road accident