Bacolod mayor suspends lending city vehicles after accident

FILE Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez | PHOTO: Official Facebook page of Albee Benitez

BACOLOD CITY — Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez has suspended the lending of city government vehicles to groups traveling for various activities after an accident that left a teacher dead and 37 injured in Don Salvador Benedicto (DSB)  town.

“I want to make sure our vehicles are in tip-top shape before they are lent out to outsiders,” he said in an interview on Tuesday, June 18.

A city government bus with 39 people on board fell sideways when its brakes failed at a downhill section of Purok Talus, Barangay Igmaya-an in DSB on Friday, June 14.

The passengers were mostly teachers of the Paglaum Village Elementary School in Bacolod.

Benitez said it is a standard operating procedure for vehicles to undergo regular maintenance checks.

The mayor has ordered an investigation into the accident to determine the cause and ensure that similar incidents do not happen again.

The city government has assisted victims under the Bacolod City Comprehensive Health Program.

Staff Sergeant Benjie Bantilan, the DSB traffic investigator, said the bus driver was released from police custody since the reglementary period for his detention had lapsed.

He said the families of the victims had no plans of filing charges against the driver since they believed what happened was an accident.

Teacher Arlyn Tolosa Verde, 42, died when she hit a stone as the city government bus fell on its side.

Thirty-seven others were injured while the driver was unharmed.

The bus was descending from Kilometer 40 to Kilometer 41 of DSB when its brakes failed and fell on its left side, the town police reported.

The group had reportedly gone to Sipaway Island in San Carlos City for team-building and was returning to Bacolod when the accident happened.