Cop who survived accident fears for safety

Fearing for his safety, the 38-year-old policeman who survived last Thursday’s vehicular accident in Dalaguete town, southern Cebu, asked to be discharged from the hospital.

PO3 Alan Sanoy of the Dalaguete police signed a waiver at the Julio Cardinal Rosales Memorial Hospital to be allowed to go home.

Sanoy left the hospital after a fellow policeman told him that someone was disappointed that he survived the accident where two policemen and a civilian driver were killed.

PO1 Arnel Calisang visited Sanoy last Thursday night and informed him about a text message sent to him by an anonymous sender. It said: “ngano ang nangamatay ang buotan man unya ang kusog manakop ug batan-on, wa namatay? (Why is it that the good ones died while the one who is aggressive in arresting minors survived?)”

“We heard that some people are angry that my husband survived the accident. We don’t know what will happen next. My husband fears for his safety,” said Sanoy’s 35-year-old wife Fely in Cebuano.

Sanoy said he would file a leave of absence so he could continue his medication at home.

“I feel okay but I still have muscle pain and I still feel dizzy,” said Sanoy in Cebuano. Sanoy, who has three children, said he feels safer at home.

SPO1 Jose Gino Ursonal, 49, P03 Christopher Requina, 53, and the driver Federico Caruana, 37, all Dalaguete residents, were killed when their police jeep fell off a 60-meter cliff in sitio Mag-alambac.

Sanoy survived by jumping off before the vehicle plunged down the ravine at 2:45 a.m. last Thursday.

The police team was sent to barangay Dugyan at 7 p.m. Wednesday to secure a benefit dance for its annual fiesta celebration. The team was heading home and going down a two-lane road when the accident happened.

Sanoy landed on a rock near a tree which stopped him from going over the edge of the cliff.

Senior Supt. Patrocinio Comendador, chief of the Cebu Provincial Police Office (CPPO), said an investigation will be made. The motorpoll technican told him the jeep was in good running condition.

Comendador said drivers should be safety conscious and know whether they are rested enough to do driving duties.

Flags at the CPPO headquarters were lowered to half mast as a show of respect for the two policemen who perished in the accident./WITH CORRESPONDENT GABRIEL C. BONJOC