Manhunt on vs driver in hit-and-run of 2 senior high school students

DARAGA, Albay-—A manhunt has been launched against a delivery truck driver who fled after his van hit and killed two senior high school students and seriously injured two others in Daraga, Albay, police said Saturday.
Truck driver Remegio Villagomisa, 59, has gone on hiding since he fled from the scene after hitting four students on Thursday, said Supt. Joel Adan, Daraga police chief, in a phone interview Saturday.

A “flash alarm” has been sent to all police stations in the country to alert them and to arrest Villagomisa should he be spotted in their area of jurisdiction, according to Adan.

He said Villagomisa’s known address is Number 8 Tramo Street, Barangay Alima, Bacoor, Cavite.

The two fatalities – Lawrence Soriao, 17, and Rona Alcera, 17, both graduating students of the Anislag National High School in Daraga, were dead on the spot when the van driven by Villagomisa hit them at around 2:30 p.m. while they were standing on a sidewalk waiting for a ride home in Purok 2, Anislag Village, Daraga along the Maharlika highway on Thursday.

Adan said two other students, Christopher Villagomez, 19, and Lea Ardaya, 16, also from the same school, were severely wounded in the accident and are now confined at the Bicol Regional Training and Teaching Hospital in Legazpi City.

The closed delivery truck, which was carrying air-conditioned units, was traveling from Metro Manila and enroute to Tacloban City via the port of Matnog in Sorsogon when it apparently experienced a mechanical problem, losing its brakes.

Instead of helping the students, the driver disembarked from the vehicle and fled to an unknown direction right after the incident, a report from the Daraga police said.

Left behind in the vehicle was the truck helper, identified as Armand Odono, 33, currently a resident of Quezon City but from Guinobatan, Albay. It was Odono who provided police the identity of the driver.

Adan said a case of reckless imprudence resulting in multiple homicide, physical injuries and damage to property would be filed against Villagomisa.