20 units of First North Luzon Transit Inc. grounded after accident

ACCIDENTS involving buses, like this one in the town of Daanbantayan in Cebu province, are becoming frequent as checks for bus road worthiness are few and far between. TONEE DESPOJO/CEBU DAILY NEWS

The operations of a bus company servicing northern Luzon routes have been suspended for a month after one of its units rammed into the van carrying two honorary consuls and their family.

The family of Rene and Fortune Ledesma, honorary consuls of Bulgaria and Monaco in the Philippines, welcomed the order made by the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board’s (LTFRB) to suspend for 30 days the operations of 20 units of First North Luzon Transit Inc. (FNLTI).

“This is in support of public safety,” said RJ Ledesma, the consuls’ son.

The family, though, is still pushing for the cancellation of the bus firm’s franchise, said RJ in a phone interview.

He said the family has not received any financial assistance from FNLTI.

Rene and Fortune, their son Rico, daughter-in-law Sheila, a two-year-old niece, nanny Delia Espinosa and driver Eduardo Pineda were returning to Manila from a vacation in Baguio City when the FLNTI bus with license plate TXS-496 crashed into the rear of their Hyundai Starex van with license plate PIY- 471 on the North Luzon Expressway (NLEx) in Apalit, Pampanga on Jan. 4.

All the passengers were injured but Fortune, who had a bone-deep cut in her forehead that required surgery, appeared to have suffered the worst.

LTFRB issued the suspension order after reviewing the pleading filed by FLNTI on Jan. 20, which was contested by the Ledesmas’ legal counsel in a reply submitted on Jan. 25.

The LTFRB order grounded 20 units of FNLTI in its terminals on P. Tuazon corner Edsa in Cubao, Quezon City. Rima Granali