Mayor of Bacolod stops rental of municipal vehicles after accident

By: Carla Gomez – 3 hours ago

FILE Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez | PHOTO: Albee Benitez Official Facebook Page

BACOLOD CITY – Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez has suspended the lending of city government vehicles to groups going to various activities following an accident in Don Salvador Benedicto Town (DSB) that left one teacher dead and 37 injured.

“I want to make sure our vehicles are in top condition before they are loaned to outsiders,” he said in an interview on Tuesday, June 18.

A city bus carrying 39 passengers overturned on its side on Friday, June 14, when its brakes failed on a sloping section of Purok Talus, Barangay Igmaya-an in DSB.

The passengers were mostly teachers from the Paglaum Village Elementary School in Bacolod.

Benitez said it was standard procedure to subject vehicles to regular maintenance checks.

The mayor has ordered an investigation into the accident to determine the cause and ensure that similar incidents do not happen again.

The city government has assisted the victims through the Bacolod City Comprehensive Health Program.

Staff Sergeant Benjie Bantilan, the DSB’s traffic investigator, said the bus driver was released from police custody because the regular detention period had expired.

He said the victims’ families had no plans to press charges against the driver as they believed it was an accident.

Arlyn Tolosa Verde, a 42-year-old teacher, died when she hit a rock when the city bus tipped over on its side.

37 other people were injured, the driver remained unharmed.

The city police reported that the bus was traveling downhill on the DSB 40-kilometer-41 route when its brakes failed and it tipped over onto its left side.

The group had reportedly gone to Sipaway Island in San Carlos City for team building and was on their way back to Bacolod when the accident occurred.