‘He was just playing,’ says man of 7-year-old son mowed down by garbage truck

A 7-year-old boy died after he was run over by a garbage truck in Barangay Pinagbuhatan, Pasig City, on Sunday morning.

According to the report of case investigator PO2 Apolos Labrador, Ryan Afable, a resident of Golden Shower Ville Centennial 2 Pinalas Road, was playing with a friend when the truck driver, Jerry Jumawan, hit and ran over him.

Afable was rushed to Pasig City General Hospital where he received treatment. However, he died of his injuries at 11:30 a.m.

Jumawan, who is currently in the custody of the Pasig Traffic Parking Management Office at the Pasig police headquarters, told the Inquirer that it was an accident.

“It was a dead-end so I had to reverse the truck. I still saw the child then but when I drove forward, I did not notice that he had moved to the front of the truck,” he added.

Labrador said Jumawan, who works for IPM, a subcontractor working with the Pasig City Hall, would undergo inquest proceedings should the boy’s family sue him.

The victim’s father, Ruben, a construction worker, said that Afable was the youngest of four children. “He was a good son. He was just playing,” he added.

At press time, IPM was trying to reach a settlement with the boy’s family.

Also on Sunday morning, a 49-year-old woman died after she fell from a CEM bus on the northbound lane of Edsa in Balintawak, Quezon City. She was identified as Purity Boe.

Chief Insp. Carlito Renegin, head of the city Police Traffic Management Office, said that Boe was about to alight from the bus and standing near the door when she fell, hitting her head on the pavement. She died at a hospital.

The bus driver, Edmond Salcedo, yielded to authorities.