Driver in hit-and-run of teeners now hunted

DARAGA, Albay – A manhunt has been launched against a delivery truck driver who fled after his vehicle hit and killed two senior high school students and seriously injured two others in Daraga, Albay province, police said on Saturday.

Truck driver Remegio Villagomisa, 59, has gone into hiding since he fled from the scene after hitting the four students on Thursday, said Supt. Joel Adan, Daraga police chief, in a phone interview on 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 No. 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 truck driven by Villagomisa hit them 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 both from the same school, were severely wounded in the accident and are now confined at Bicol Regional Training and Teaching Hospital in Legazpi City.

The delivery truck, which was carrying air-conditioned units, was traveling from Metro Manila and en route 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 accident, 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 province. 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.