CAPALONGA, Camarines Norte (Oct. 22, 2013) – Residents of this coastal town are in a state of mourning and shock over the untimely death of seven employees of their municipal government, including an outstanding accountant and a senior bookkeeper, who figured in a tragic vehicular accident in Atimonan, Quezon on Saturday (Oct. 19).
Capalonga town Mayor Zenardo Jalgalado told newsmen on Monday (Oct.21) that the local government has released funds for the medical assistance of the surviving victims from his town, in addition to the hospitalization assistance being given by bus firm Superlines to the 57 passengers hurt in the tragic traffic accident.
Jalgalado said most of the injured passengers, who are still confined in a hospital in Quezon province, come from Capalonga.
Among the seven brought home dead to their town were Outstanding Municipal accountant Jodelyn Consuelo, 42, and the town’s senior bookkeeper Melissa Alto.
According to the Mayor, Consuelo and Alto including several other employees went on official travel to Bacolod City last week to claim a national award for the municipality of Capalonga as an outstanding Local Government Unit, Accounting unit.
At around 1:00 A.M. on Saturday, a Bicol-bound Superlines passenger bus carrying mostly residents of Capalonga was allegedly bumped in the rear by a cargo truck causing its driver to lose control of the vehicle as it sped down a steep slope along the highway in Atimonan, Quezon. The wayward vehicle sequentially hit six other vehicles coming from the opposite direction before it turned on its side and grounded to a halt.
The driver of the ill-fated bus, Albert Nava, 48, was almost unscathed and is now detained in a jail in Atimonan. According to the police, the driver will still be charged with multiple homicide and multiple serious physical injuries even as he insists that the accident was not his fault.
The number of lives lost in the series of vehicular accidents in Maharlika Highway in Bicol to Quezon province this year has surpassed the previous years, as shown in the records of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), Bicol regional office.
Highway Patrol Group (HPG), Deputy regional chief for Bicol, Police Chief Insp. Henry Cerdon said that due to the alarming rate of deaths in vehicular accidents in Bicol and Quezon, “concerned transport agencies should jointly address the reckless driving habits and common human errors committed by drivers that cause fatal mishaps.” (SONNY SALES)