A resident of Tuba town in Benguet passes by the scene of the accident Friday that shows the wreckage of the container truck and the bus ridden by students and teachers. Seven people were killed in the mishap that occurred Thursday night. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
BOAC, Marinduque – The remains of Joana Pizarra, who died in hospital a week after the tragic bus accident in Benguet that also claimed the lives of three of her classmates and two teachers, were brought home here early Friday.
Pizarra was among 31 tourism students and teachers of the Marinduque State College on their way home from a four-day educational field trip in Ilocos Sur and Baguio City on the night of February 21 when their Alfa Bus unit, hired by St. Baraquel Tours, collided with a food container truck.
Instantly killed in the crash were SC teachers Jenny Liza Lantoria, 29, and Mariel Mingi, 26; MSC tourism students Princess Pastorfide, 19, Diane Laurio, 18, and Marvin Palatino, 31; Leopoldo Nana, the bus driver; and Carlo Pintor, a tour guide.
Pizarra died last Wednesday at the intensive care unit of the Baguio General Hospital and Medical Center. She never regained consciousness since being brought to the BGHMC after the crash. She suffered brain injury and internal hemorrhage, according to MSC vice president for academic affairs Dr. Leodegario Jalos Jr.
It was Jalos who, while in Baguio City, announced in a phone call to campus director Nelson Montejo, which was broadcast during the school’s flag ceremony on Wednesday morning that Pizarra was declared dead at around 2 a.m. that day.
After hearing the news, college officials, teachers and students offered a minute of silence and prayer for Pizarra.
Jalos left for Baguio City immediately after the incident along with the parents of the victims. When the remains of the first five fatalities were brought home and most of the survivors returned to Marinduque, Jalos had stayed behind to attend to the needs of two students still in BGHMC–Pizarra and Florilyn Zulueta, both 19 years old.
In a text message, Jalos said he needed to extend his stay in Baguio since Zulueta was still in the hospital’s ICU.
According to him, the family of Pizarra on Tuesday had hoped she might have a chance to survive. Jalos said Pizarra’s mother, Jean, told friends and relatives that her daughter “regained her heartbeat” just about the same time that Joana’s father, who had just arrived from Marinduque, stepped inside the ICU.
However, Pizarra remained unconscious until she passed away on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, the remains of Marvin Palatino were laid to rest Wednesday afternoon at the Santa Cruz municipal cemetery. Diane Laurio’s remains, on the other hand, were buried in the same cemetery on Friday.