CDN photo touches OFW; cash aid sent to crash victims

A PHOTO of two couples of sugarplantation workers who were injured after the truck they were riding fell into a ravine in Tabogon town, Cebu disturbed someone reading the news  abroad.

The Cebu Daily News photo showed two men huddled on the back of a  truck cradling their wives as they were being transported to a hospital.

A Cebuano businessman based in Singapore viewed the photo of the Dec. 21 bus accident on CDN’s website and called up Vice Gov. Agnes Magpale in Cebu.

He said he was sending P10,000 per couple as financial aid.

Magpale told CDN she offered to look for the victims after Christmas Day, but the donor was insistent that they receive it in time for Christmas.

After making several inquiries on Dec. 25, Magpale was able to locate the couples and hand over the  cash gift to the women Elena Tul-ed and Maelord Monares and their respective partners on Dec. 26.

Magpale said the benefactor, a close friend of hers, phoned her after seeing the photo of the injured couples in the CDN website.

The picture was taken by CDN photojournalist Junjie Mendoza soon after the accident which involved a cargo truck carrying over 40 people, including children, bound for work in a sugarcane plantation in Bogo City.

The truck fell into a ravine after it was hit by another cargo truck that overtook it on the road in Tabogon town.

The injured couples in the photo had just boarded another truck to be transported to the Severo Verallo Memorial Hospital in Bogo City.

“After seeing the photo, he immediately contacted me on the phone asked me to give them the assistance,” said Magpale who declined to name the businessman.

“This just shows us the power of a photograph.”

Magpale was able to locate the Tul-eds in the hospital of the Bogo-Medellin Sugar Milling Company.

Monares received the P10,000 cash gift inside their house in barangay Caduawan in Tabogon town.

“They were very happy and thankful for the blessing they received. That would serve as their Christmas gift for the season,” said Magpale.

The families of three victims who died in the truck accident will receive P5,000 cash assistance from the Cebu provincial government.

The Capitol will also shoulder the victims’ burial expenses, she said.

Tabogon is a northern town 93 kilometers from Cebu City. /Correspondent Peter L. Romanillos