CEBU CITY, Philippines—The Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) requested to sit in during the meeting of the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board in Central Visayas (LTFRB-7) and the management of the ambulance and bus that were involved in a road mishap last October 25, 2020 here.
This was revealed by Police Lieutenant Colonel Clark Arriola, head of the CCPO public information office, on Wednesday morning, October 28, 2020.
According to Arriola, they made the request because they would also want to give their comments and suggestions so this kind of accident could be prevented.
“We called the LTFRB if we could sit in during the meeting scheduled on the first week of November so we could listen and also give our comments,” said Arriola.
The accident happened at the corner of General Maxilom Extension and J. De Veyra Street at the North Reclamation Area.
Read: LTFRB-7 issues show cause order for bus liner involved in multiple crash incidents
Nine persons, including the drivers of both the bus and the ambulance, were injured.
Arriola said that the bus driver is currently in a hospital arrest while the ambulance driver is still being treated in a private hospital.
According to Arriola, the protocols mention that drivers must always give way to emergency vehicles. He said that no matter how faint the sound of the siren was, or even if the traffic light shows a go signal, drivers must give way or wait for the emergency vehicle to pass.
Read: Motorists urged: Give way to emergency vehicles
“Initially according to the law, kung naa lang audible sound, dapat mo padaplin ang bus. Very common man na diri sa city nga naay ambulance mo agi-agi and sa atong nabantayan, kusog man gud na og tingog so mabantayan gyud na nimo. Pero we were not there during the incident so di ta kaingon if audible ba to ilang sound so we will find that in the investigation conducted by the LFTRB,” said Arriola.
(Initially according to the law, if there is an audible sound, the bus must give way. It’s very common in the city that ambulances pass by and as what we have observed, the siren is loud so you would really notice it. But we were not there during the incident so we can’t really say if it was audible so that’s what we’ll find out in the investigation of the LTFRB.)
/bmjo