Ceres bus rep says families of killed cyclists opt to settle amicably

CEBU CITY, Philippines– It’s a busy week for representatives of Vallacar Transit Inc., the operator of Ceres Bus after they were again called to appear before the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB)-7 for another hearing.

This time, the meeting was called by the agency to resolve two more vehicular accidents involving two Ceres buses last week in Mandaue City and Consolacion town, which killed two bicycle riders.

On October 30, a 45-year-old security guard died after he was run over by a Ceres bus along M.C. Briones Street in Mandaue City, while the following day, October 31, another cyclist was killed after he was hit by a Ceres bus at Barangay Pitogo, Consolacion.

Joelito Cabanes, admin manager of Vallacar Transit Inc. North-Branch, said during the hearing that they already made a settlement agreement with the first victim, wherein they offered P200,000 financial assistance to the victim’s family.

“The agreement between the family of the victim and Vallacar totalled P200,000 including the funeral expenses. The P80,000 is already paid in the funeral and P50,000 is the cash assistance. The remaining will be for the processing of papers to be submitted in my office,” Cabanes said.

Cabanes added that the family of the victim had already issued an affidavit of desistance while the detained driver was already freed from the custody of the police last night.

Company representatives are also set to meet with the family of the second victim this Friday presumably to broker an amicable settlement. Cabanes, however, said that they already got a positive response from the victim’s family.

The bus company also argued during the hearing that what happened was an accident, claiming their buses were in the proper lane when the accidents happened.

Lawyer Edwin Antipuesto, the hearing officer of LTFRB-7, also ordered the bus company to submit the drug test results for both drivers in two days.

He also requested them to submit a copy of the special permit of the route of the Ceres buses that were involved in the accident.

“Other documents involving these matters should be submitted within two days,” Antipuesto said./rcg