Garcia: Dump trucks should not be used as school buses

Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia speaks with the victims of the Boljoon accident in the Boljoon gym on Saturday noon, July 20, 2019.

BOLJOON, Cebu, Philippines — Cebu Provincial Governor Gwendolyn Garcia said that the dump truck, which fell off a road side cliff in Boljoon town killing nine individuals, was not an ideal vehicle for students being transported from one place to another during school-related activities.

Garcia said that in the past, there was a policy prohibiting the use of dump trucks to transport groups of people especially students from the far flung areas to the towns.

Read more: 9 killed after student-loaded dump truck falls off cliff in Boljoon

Dump trucks are meant to transport goods and produce and are generally not safe to transport many people from the far uplands to the lowlands.

However, the implementation of such policy became difficult to implement because there were not enough buses among the provincial towns to transport people from the mountain barangays to the town centers.

“Sa una, gobernador pa ko, duna na untay pulisiya ana apan di man guro mapatuman kay wala may laing kasakyan (Before, in my previous terms as governor, there was already a policy prohibiting trucks from being used as public transport but the implementation was difficult because people in the mountains had no other means to travel),” said Garcia.

Read more: Mayor assures: Financial aid to Boljoon accident victims’ families

Presently, Garcia said there are already available buses in most towns, and these should have been used instead of the dump trucks because buses are safer for passengers.

The governor  said she would look into the situation in Boljoon, if the town had its own buses to deploy to the mountain barangays to fetch the people and what the Capitol could do to help.

Garcia also reminded the chief executives of the provincial towns and cities that all employees, even job order employees, should undergo proper training before they could begin to render service to the government.

Read more: Truck driver apologizes for Boljoon accident, resigns future to fate

Trainings should be done especially for technical services that handles safety of the public such as drivers to make sure that the employee is fit and capable to render service.

“This (Boljoon accident) is a tragic lesson for us, chief executives, because ultimately, kita man gyod responsable (we are responsible),” said Garcia.

The governor hopes that no similar incident will happen again in any of the towns and cities in Cebu as he encouraged the chief executives of helping prevent a similar tragedy.

Read more: Cebu province to shoulder hospitalization, burial expenses of Boljoon accident victims

Garcia was in Boljoon to visit the families of the seven children and two adults who died in the truck accident and to deliver as well the Capitol’s aid to the victims such as food and groceries.

The Capitol already promised to shoulder the burial expenses of the deceased victims and the hospitalization of the 22 other injured victims. /dbs