1 dead, 16 hurt in road mishap

A passenger was killed while 16 others, including two children, were hurt when a Baguio City-bound van fell into a ravine along Naguilian Road in Sablan town on Sunday afternoon, reports from police and the Office of Civil Defense in the Cordillera region said on Monday.

Police said John Vincent Guillermo Florendo, a resident of Bauang town, La Union province, was the lone fatality in the accident that happened at  5:20 p.m. on Sunday.

Benguet police director Senior Supt. Rodolfo Azurin said a Toyota Hi-Ace van was negotiating a road when it slipped and fell into a  40-meter ravine in Sitio Calot in Barangay  Banangan.

Azurin said 10 injured passengers were taken to Baguio General Hospital and Medical Center, while the rest were being treated at Benguet General Hospital in La Trinidad town.Kimberlie Quitasol, Inquirer Northern Luzon

3 killed after bus falls into ravine

QUEZON–Three persons died when a Manila-bound bus fell into a 30.5-meter ravine along a zigzag diversion road in Pagbilao town at 3:10 a.m. on Sunday, police said.

A Raymond Transportation bus, which was carrying 43 passengers, plunged into the deep gorge on the right side of the road in Sitio Upper Sapinit in Barangay Silangang Malicboy, said Pagbilao police director Chief Insp. Von June Nuyda.

Passengers Renan Destacamento, 34, from Quezon City, and Nestor Vendivel Jr., 18, from Masbate City died on the spot, he said. Nestor Vendivel Sr., father of the younger Vendivel, died while being treated at Quezon Medical Center in Lucena City, Nuyda added in a phone interview. Numerous others, including the bus driver, were injured in the accident.

In May, the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board suspended the operations of Raymond Transportation’s five units plying the Caramoan, Camarines Sur-Cubao, Quezon City route after one of them figured in a road accident that killed two passengers and injured five others. Delfin T. Mallari Jr., Inquirer Southern Luzon 

Pakistani slain

BASILAN–A Pakistani national selling housewares in Lamitan City was killed while his Filipino companion was wounded in a shooting incident there on Wednesday.

Basilan police director Senior Supt. Mario Dapilloza said Reman Khan and his Filipino companion Albert Blanco were heading home on a motorcycle when attacked. Dapilloza said the victims sold appliances in Barangay Sabong.

He said the perpetrators then divested the victims of their valuables. “The motive was robbery,” he said. The identities of the perpetrators remain uncertain. Julie Alipala, Inquirer Mindanao