A CCTV footage shows how a pickup truck hit a motorcycle with a back rider causing the driver of the latter to lose control and crash. This happened on Tuesday morning, October 8, in Carcar City, Cebu. | Screenshot from contributed video via Paul Lauro
CEBU CITY, Philippines — A 49-year-old man heading to church died in a hit-and-run incident along the National Highway in Sitio Bonsai, Brgy. Bolinawan, Carcar City, Cebu on early Tuesday morning, October 8.
The victim was run over after falling off a motorcycle that was first hit by a pickup truck, whose driver immediately fled the scene.
According to police, the fatal accident involving three vehicles happened at around 5:40 a.m. on Tuesday
The dead victim was identified as Rodante Genon Tan, 49, a resident of Squina Bonbon, Brgy. Ocaña, Carcar City.
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On the day of the incident, he was the backrider of the motorcycle driven by Dioscoro Canape, 64.
The two men were traveling from Ocaña to the Saint Catherine church, where Tan served as a church pianist, on early Tuesday morning.
While they were traversing the highway, a pickup truck heading the same way, north, as the motorcycle overtook them. The motorcycle with his passenger were on the middle of the leftmost lane when the pickup truck overtook them on the left side. However, right side of the back of the pickup truck clipped the handle of the motorcycle. This caused the driver of the motorcycle to lose control and crash on the road.
This also sent the backrider, Tan, flying from the back of the motorcycle, landing on the opposite lane and right under the wheels of the truck passing on the right lane. The victim suffered head injuries causing his death.
Canape, the motorcycle driver, on the other hand, sustained injuries on his body.
The truck that run over Tan, driven by 38-year-old Felix Candelaria Eñoza, immediately pulled over by the side of the road after noticing what happened.
The pickup truck, however, did not help the victims and continued to drive north.
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When emergency personnel arrived, the victims were rushed to the Cebu Provincial Hospital-Carcar for immediate medical treatment.
Tan passed away a few hours later or at 6:44 a.m. due to the severity of his injuries, according to police.
Meanwhile, Canape is now recovering from his injuries at the hospital.
Police took custody of Eñoza after the incident. He is now detained at the Carcar City Police Station’s custodial facility.
However, he will be released soon as the victim’s family has opted not to file charges after Eñoza promised to provide financial compensation instead.
As of this writing, law enforcers are working to identify and apprehend the driver of the pickup truck by reviewing CCTV footage.
Once the erring driver is identified, police will be filing a charge of reckless imprudence resulting to homicide against the driver of the vehicle.
Carcar City is a fifth-class municipality of the Cebu province and is located some 40 kilometers south of Cebu City.
The hit-and-run incident in Carcar City happened some two days after another hit-and-run incident in Mandaue City where an SUV hit a motorcycle that killed the driver and his passenger a woman.
As of this posting, the Mandaue police only retrieved the abandoned SUV in a northern Cebu subdivision while they continue to find out who the driver of the vehicle involved in the collision was.