Driver of ‘killer bus’ surrenders in Davao city

DAVAO CITY—(UPDATE 2) Daniel Espinosa, the driver of the bus involved in the collision that killed veteran journalist Lourdes “Chit” Estella-Simbulan in Quezon City, insisted he was not the only one to blame for the accident.

“It was not just me,” said Espinosa, driver of the Universal Guiding Star bus that hit Simbulan’s cab on Commonwealth Ave. on May 13.

Espinosa had been hiding in the house of a sister in Toril district here since Tuesday before finally surrendering to Vice Mayor Rodrigo Duterte before midnight Thursday.

During their meeting at Duterte”s office, which journalists had witnessed, Espinosa told Duterte that nobody wanted the crash to happen. “It was an accident,” Espinosa, looking distraught, said in Filipino.

“That’s why I surrendered Sir, so that my record would be cleared,” Espinosa told Duterte.

He said that what happened was not his fault.

Duterte said what he did not understand was why Espinosa fled after the accident on Commonwealth Ave.

“Let me ask you: why did you have to leave and hide? Why did you not go to the police and have yourself investigated? Why did you skip?” the vice mayor asked.

Duterte told Espinosa that the problem would not have gone serious had he immediately surrendered.

“Your problem now is that the incident, your case, has angered the President … the problem, really, is that there is a crime but it was a crime minus the malice,” he said.

Sounding repentant, Espinosa repeatedly swore he did not intentionally ram Simbulan’s cab.

Espinosa said before his bus and Simbulan’s taxi collided, another vehicle had hit the veteran journalist’s cab.

“The truth is I was not the one her vehicle was racing against,” he said.

He said that before his collided with Simbulan’s cab, the taxi was hit by another vehicle.

“There was another bus that hit it before we crashed into each other,” he said.

Espinosa admitted he went into hiding after the crash because he also feared for his life.

“I was scared. I had to run because I was afraid I might get killed if I stayed there,” Espinosa told Duterte.

In an interview with reporters following his meeting with Duterte, Espinosa said he did not know anybody in Quezon City which was why he decided to flee.

“I panicked. I have nobody to ask help from because I don’t have relatives there. I did not have anybody to run to except my wife. I was really scared,” he said.

Espinosa said that before leaving for Davao on a bus, he and his wife had a brief talk but he did not tell her where he was going.

Nenita Haom, Espinoza”s older sister, said her brother arrived in their home in Toril on Tuesday and appeared to be disorientated.

“He could barely talk. He seemed to have lost his voice. In a barely audible tone, he told me he was involved in a crash,” she said in the vernacular.

They then decided to seek Duterte’s help after learning that Espinosa was being sought by authorities.

Duterte advised the 50-year old father of four not to talk publicly if he did not want to before turning him over to police authorities here.

He also sought the help of veteran lawyer Salvador Panelo to help the embattled bus driver.

On Friday morning, Duterte facilitated Espinosa’s flight for Manila so he could give his account of the accident before police investigators.

The flight was, however, delayed for a few hours because of what airline officials said was a technical problem.