Owner of ill-fated jeepney vows to help families of Igbaras tragedy casualties
The left side panel of the ill-fated J&J jeepney.
Hundreds of thousands in insurance claims and "no-fault" insurance policy dues will be equally divided among the passengers of ill-fated J & J passenger jeepney of the Igbaras tragedy.
In what was to be the jeepney's last trip after some five years of daily trips to and from Igtalungon, Igbaras, Iloilo to Iloilo City, Melchor Dela Cruz, jeepney owner and operator told The News Today (TNT) that not a single centavo of the monetary claims will go to him. As it is, Dela Cruz shared, thousands in hospital expenses have since been personally shouldered, his way of helping the innocent victims of his jeepney's last trip.
And it was a free ride too, a "no-pay" service, he added, reason why there was an overload of passengers that tragic Monday morning. This, as Dela Cruz further disclosed how he warned town mates of the possible overflow after seeing the strong current and rising waters of the Tangyan River.
The owner Melchor Dela Cruz.
Dela Cruz was among the mourners and provided free transportation. He left some two hours earlier with about 15 passengers only on board his Isuzu Elf truck. The rest of the mourners decided to take the jeepney due to the intermittent rains.
His truck was open reason why the others opted for the passenger jeepney instead of the truck.
"Naghamabal gid ko sa ila nga basi mabaha-an sila. Pero pag-agi ko mga 7:30 a.m., kita-on pa ang overflow bisan pa nga ang tubig sa suba grabe na (I warned them about the possible overflow. When I passed by about 7:30 a.m., the overflow (bridge) can still be seen even if the water was already rising)," he added.
Accounts of his driver Margarito "Boy" Edang told of how he tried to cross the 'overflow bridge' and was only a few meters off it when the waters proved too much for the jeepney to stand. Passengers were especially those on top of the jeepney's roof, on the hood and those hanging on by the jeepney's rails were thrown off the river as those crammed inside were brought underwater.
Charges have been filed against the driver.
"Sige-sige gid ang bulig pinansyal namon sa mga pasahero kay kalabanan man gani mga paryente man namon. Kag luyag lang namon athagon nga tanan nga papeles sang salakyan in-order gid. Handa kami nga atubangon ini tanan (We continue to help the passengers especially since most of them are our relatives too. And we want to clarify that all our papers for the jeepney are in order. We are ready to face of all these (charges))," Dela Cruz ended.