Bus in Mindoro crash was bought from junk shop and rebuilt

The wreckage of the Dimple Star bus that figured in a crash that left 19 people dead and 21 others wounded in Sablayan, Occidental Mindoro last March 20, 2018. President Rodrigo Duterte visited the accident site on March 23. (Photo by ROBINSON NIÑAL JR. / Presidential Photographers Division)

The Dimple Star Transport bus that fell into a ravine in Occidental Mindoro last March and killed 19 passengers was a unit bought from a junk shop and rebuilt nine years ago for P1.5 million.

Hilbert Napat, the owner of the bus firm himself, admitted this to the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) on Wednesday during the first hearing on the road crash, the eighth road crash incident involving his company.

Napat told LTFRB said the bus, which fell into a ravine in Sablayan, Occidental Mindoro, was bought from a junk shop and had its body and parts “rehabilitated” in 2009.

He pointed out that over time, though, the bus parts might have corroded due to its exposure to the elements, such as seawater, which might have contributed to the fatal crash.

Napat could not tell the board, however, the exact age of the bus, except that he bought it almost a decade ago.

He also told the LTFRB that he had yet to determine the exact cause of the crash since his lead mechanic had not examined the unit.

LTFRB Chairman Martin Delgra III told Napat he was surprised that he did not know that the reason the driver lost control of the bus was because its steering system broke.

Delgra also assailed Napat for partly blaming the crash on external factors.

“It’s your responsibility to make your vehicles roadworthy,” Delgra said. “If you’re going to blame [the incident] on anyone or anything, I think it’s time for you to leave the bus business.”

At one point during the hearing, Delgra even approached Napat to show him pictures of the dilapidated condition of his bus.

Because of Napat’s admission, the LTFRB said that the preventive suspension order on the company’s fleet of 118 buses would stay until it could prove to the board that its units were roadworthy and safe to be used by the public.

According to LTFRB board member Aileen Lizada, they also found out that, under the franchise that the ill-fated bus belonged to, five had chassis numbers inscribed with “LTO.” She said that this meant that the chassis of these buses were not made by the original manufacturer.

When Napat was asked how many of his rebuilt and rehabilitated buses were still in operation, he told the board that he no longer had any as these had already decommissioned – “nakatay,” as he called it.

He added that he would also submit a position paper to further explain his company’s side on the issues brought out by the board.

Since 2011, Dimple Star has figured in eight road crashes, including the recent one in Occidental Mindoro.

While a total of 29 passengers lost their lives and another 139 were left injured in these road crashes, the bus company was only slapped with suspension orders and fines amounting to a total of no more than P10,000. /atm