Tado Jimenez’s skinhead widow slams bus firm

JIMENEZ photo by ERIKA SAULER

As artists chanted “Hustisya sa biktima ng Florida (Justice for Florida victims)!” in the background, the wife of comedian Arvin “Tado” Jimenez—one of the 15 people killed when a bus plunged into a ravine in Mt. Province on Feb. 7— shaved off her hair Wednesday.

The protest spearheaded by Lei Jimenez and members of Dakila, an artists group cofounded by her husband, was held in front of the GV Florida Transport Inc. terminal in Sampaloc, Manila.

The protest was held on the same day the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) set a hearing to let Florida officials justify why the bus firm’s franchise should not be canceled.

“If Tado was alive then he would have done the same to make his statement [come out] loud and clear. Tado had been an activist since our student days in PUP and he always made his political statement in a creative fashion,” she said in a statement issued by Dakila.

She added that the tragic accident was not only caused by the “irresponsibility” of Florida  and Mt. Province Cable Tours bus lines but also due to the LTFRB’s negligence enforcing road safety.

“If this ‘kabit’ and ‘kolorum’ systems continue and blatant multiple violations are tolerated, more lives will be put in danger,” she said.

Based on news reports, the Florida bus that Tado and the victims were riding in was using a license plate issued to Mt. Province Cable Tours which sold its bus line to the firm last year. Florida, however, had yet to apply in the LTFRB for “substitution and dropping of units.”

The artist group said Tado had campaigned for road safety as an advocacy, adding that a meeting with survivors and victims’ families and friends would be held to determine their next course of action.

Fr. Robert Reyes, the running priest known for his social and political activism, chanced upon the protest and offered a prayer. “I was just on my way to the blessing of President Aquino’s housing project,” he told reporters. “Tado was a friend; We saw each other during protests.”