Aguilos: Stop using gov’t dump trucks for passengers

Government dump trucks can no longer be used to ferry people.

A memo was issued yesterday by the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) regional office to all mayors in Central Visayas to stop the common practice of fielding dump trucks and other open-type vehicles to transport people “whether for free or for a fee”.

The action was taken following Thursday’s road accident in Barili town, south Cebu, where a dump truck carrying a coffin and large group of mourners to a funeral lost its brakes and overturned, killing 10 people and injuring more than 40.

It’s unsafe and illegal to carry many passengers in a truck designed for cargo, said Raul Aguilos, regional director of the Land Transportation Office (LTO).

He said a dump truck is supposed to transport construction materials or garbage with three to four people at most in the front seat, including the driver.

Allowing passengers in the the cargo area is a violation of safety standards, he said.

He urged the DILG to ban the use of dump trucks for mass transportation.

“To our mayors, they should disallow the use of dump trucks to transport several persons. They may request or purchase buses instead,” said Aguilos.

Barili Mayor Teresito Mariñas ordered more than 20 municipal vehicles pulled back to have them checked for road worthiness.

“It was an accident,” he said of the mishap in mountain road of barangay Balao.

“In my opinion, the rubber cap of the brakes exploded and caused the brakes to fail,” he said.

He said Barili municipal vehicles are properly maintained and that the driver Alvin Bayno had a good record as the municipal driver for two years.

“In fairness, the driver was not drunk,” he said.

Bayno admitted drinking two bottles of beer said PO2 Hector Veloso although liquor tests showed negative results in the Barili District Hospital. Bayno was detained at the police station pending the filing of charges.

The liability of the Barili municipal government is also at issue since the vehicle was being used in an official capacity.

Auto mechanics told Cebu Daily News a damaged rubber cap in the brakes was a common sign of wear and tear. This can be prevented through regular checkups and maintenance.

SURPLUS UNIT

The dump truck was a surplus unit acquired by the previous administration.

The truck that crashed on Thursday was the same one used to ferry festival dancers of Barili to the Pasigarbo celebration of the provincial government last week.

Vice Mayor Marlon Garcia said the municipal council would conduct a fact-finding inquiry into the accident. He said a witness recounted that the dump truck stopped awhile before going downhill. The driver disembarked to refill brake fluid.

“That means the driver already knew there was a problem,” said Garcia.

He said there was a budget for motor vehicle maintenance under the mayor’s office but he wasn’t sure if it was being used.

Mayor Mariñas, who belongs in an opposite political camp, dismissed allegations of negligence.

He said the town’s trucks are checked every morning in the motor pool and undergo regular maintenance inspection.

Bayno, the driver, said he started driving a jeepney in 1992 in Mandaue City and got a job in the Barili town government in 2007. He said he’s a careful driver.

“Who would crash a vehicle intentionally with lives on board including my own?” he said in Cebuano.

He said he even helped three passengers in the front seat after they were injured. He placed leaves of the ‘hagunoy’ plant on their bleeding wounds.

Bayno, who earns P180 a day, said he can’t afford to lose his job since he’s married with four children. Detained at the police jail, he said he worries about how to support his family.

DILG MEMO

The DILG memo was issued Friday by Regional Director Pedro Noval.

“To avoid a similar incident in the future, City and Municipal Mayors in Region 7 are enjoined not to allow the use of their respective local government units’ open type vehicles such as dump trucks and/or other vehicles not designed for the purpose, to transport passengers whether for free or for a fee”, Noval said in his memo dated August 19.

He urged city and municipal mayors to have their motor vehicles properly checked and maintained.

Noval who is the caretaker OIC of Compostela town, said last week mountain barangay residents of Compostela requested the use of a dump truck transport people but he denied the request.

Asked if the mayor of Barili has liability for allowing the use of dump truck in transporting people, he said, that’s debatable because the mayor was also rendering assistance to the public.

But “if the locality has enough funds to buy a bus, then they can do so”.

Police said the driver would be charged with reckless imprudence resulting to multiple homicide and multiple physical injuries.

The Barili Police Station listed 10 dead and 36 injured victims in the accident which occurred at 12:45 p.m. On a trip from barangay Candampas.

Coffins were brought to Barili’s town gymnasium where the vigil wake for all 10 fatalities is being held.

Their family members feared another accident if they brought the remains to their homes.

“They are experiencing phobia after the accident, so they decided to hold the wake at the gym until the burial”, the mayor said.

The burial is scheduled on Sunday.With a report by Carmel Loise Matus