Driver of bus that killed journalist-prof sends surrender feelers

MANILA, Philippines—The driver of the bus that rammed into a taxi, killing journalist Lourdes “Chit” Estella-Simbulan last week, has sent surrender feelers, a police official said.

Supt. Arnold Santiago Quezon City Police District Traffic Enforcement Group said, bus driver Daniel Espinosa, 39, had sent the message through his relatives.

“I believe he is here in Metro Manila because his brother is in touch with him and convincing him to give himself up to the police and shed light on the incident,” Santiago told Inquirer in a phone interview.

Espinosa was allegedly the driver of the Universal Guiding Star bus which slammed into the rear of the taxi Simbulan was riding in at 6 p.m. last Friday along Commonwealth Avenue in front of the UP-Ayala Technohub. The taxi driver survived.

Police filed a complaint of reckless imprudence resulting in homicide against Espinosa before the Quezon City Prosecutor’s Office.

Students of Simbulan at the University of the Philippines College of Mass Communications (CMC) held a tribute for the late professor on Monday night.

“I’m praying, like everyone else whose life she’s touched, that the bus driver finally surface and face the consequences…We hope her demise will become a catalyst for more reforms in traffic law enforcement and perhaps heavier penalties for violators,” said Mark Meruenas, who was one of Estella-Simbulan’s thesis advisees.

Erika Gallego, a CMC graduate and now a law student, called on Malacañang and the Metro Manila Development Authority to give priority to traffic rules and regulations. “It seems that even in death, Ma’am Chit still managed to forward a cause long overdue,” she said. Reports from Nancy C. Carvajal and Julie Aurelio