The remains of three members of a family, who perished in a vehicular accident in Danao City last Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2023, lie in a mortuary near the Pardo Church in Cebu City. | Paul Lauro
CEBU CITY, Philippines — The victims of the tragic road accident in Danao City will be laid to rest in Southern Leyte as their families grieve their loss.
Barangay Pardo Councilor June Berongan said living relatives of the Mondejars, who died in a road collision in Brgy. Dunggoan, Danao City last Tuesday, February 21, agreed to hold the last rites at Marcohon town in Southern Leyte.
The Mondejars’ wake is currently held at a mortuary near the Santo Tomas de Villanueva Parish in Barangay Pardo, Cebu City.
Erwin Bacalso Mondejar, his wife Imelda Mondejar, and their daughter, Erin Bliss Mondejar died due to injuries after their vehicle collided with a truck before crashing into a mango tree.
The deceased couple’s eldest son, Imer Betelgeuse, was the lone survivor. He is still confined in a hospital as physicians set to conduct an operation for his recovery.
His condition couldn’t be established as of this writing but according to Michelle, Erwin’s first-degree cousin, the seven-year-old boy needed to undergo an operation to correct the fracture he sustained from the accident.
Meanwhile, the Danao City Police Station said they were waiting for the family’s decision on whether or not to pursue a case against the driver of the wing van involved.
Investigators suspected that Erwin apparently fell asleep while traversing the southbound lane of the Cebu Nautical Highway in Brgy. Dunggoan past noon on Tuesday.
The family’s Mitsubishi Mirage G4 sedan reportedly crossed the other lane before hitting the driver’s side of an oncoming truck and then crashed into a nearby mango tree.
The truck driver, identified as Nolin Batobalonos, asked for apologies and expressed his condolences to the family but denied any wrongdoing. Batobalonos remains detained at the Danao City Police Station.
The Mondejars came from Macrohon town in Southern Leyte, and arrived in Cebu around Tuesday dawn to oversee real estate matters in Daanbantayan, police said.
Before the tragedy happened, police confirmed that the Mondejars visited a zoo in Carmen town, located approximately 27 kilometers northwest of the highway where the collision occurred.
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