Brake failure seen in Mindoro bus crash

Lawyer Aileen Lizada of the LTFRB inspects the station of Dimple Star Transport on Edsa in Quezon City following the accident involving one of the firm’s buses in Occidental Mindoro province. —JAM STA. ROSA

CITY OF CALAPAN—Police said a faulty brake system may have caused a Metro Manila-bound passenger bus to swerve and skid before plunging into a roadside ravine in Occidental Mindoro province on Tuesday night.

This emerged as the investigation into the accident that killed 19 people and injured 21 others started Thursday. Authorities also began pulling the wreckage of a unit of Dimple Star Transport from the crash site in Barangay Batong Buhay in Sablayan town.

Supt. Ferdinand Villanueva, chief of the police’s Highway Patrol Group (HPG) in Mimaropa (Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon and Palawan), said while their initial findings were not conclusive, these were based on the results of an ocular inspection and accounts of survivors.

No warning

Senior Insp. Edgardo Lim, HPG chief in Occidental Mindoro, said surviving passengers told investigators that they heard the driver, Arno Panganiban, yelling, “Nawalan ng preno (The bus lost its brakes)!” before the crash.

Panganiban and his conductor, Erwin Ebuenga, were among the fatalities.

Survivors observed nothing wrong with the bus when it left San Jose town on Tuesday afternoon, Lim said. The bus was negotiating a downhill road that was under construction when the accident happened around 9 p.m.

“It was running fast because the road was downhill. That part of the road was also dark,” he said.

As the bus swerved, it hit a pile of soil causing it to fall on its side. The bus skidded before it fell into a 10-meter deep (not 15 meters as earlier reported) ravine.

“It seemed the driver even tried to save (themselves) by attempting to slow down the bus so they could make it to the bridge. We noticed the handbrake [lever] was pulled up,” Lim added.

Justice

The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) had grounded nine units of Dimple Star plying the Manila-Mindoro route as the crash investigation continues.

Malacañang has condoled with the families of the victims, assuring them that they would get justice.

“If this is the result of negligence on the part of government officials, of course people would be fired,” presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said in a press briefing on Thursday.

“But as of now, we are sending our condolences to the families of those who died. We will reach the point when we would bring justice for those who died,” he added.

Roque also called on everyone, including bus drivers, to be careful on the road especially during the Holy Week break and summer vacation, when many people are expected to travel.

The Insurance Commission on Thursday asked the Passenger Accident Management and Insurance Agency (Pami) to immediately disburse the mandatory insurance coverage to assist the families of victims of the accident.

“We are deeply saddened by this tragedy, and we shall ensure that the victims and their respective families shall be afforded immediate assistance through the mandatory insurance for drivers and passengers,” Insurance Commissioner Dennis Funa said in a statement. —REPORTS FROM MARICAR CINCO, MADONNA VIROLA, LEILA B. SALAVERRIA AND BEN O. DE VERA