Victims' kin consider vengeance, lawsuit in wake of Skyway bus accident

Grieving families poured into the Funeraria Amigo in Taguig City on Monday, to claim their loved ones who perished in the bus accident that greeted the commuting public a week before Christmas.

“Gusto kong gumanti. Alam kong masama, pero mabigat sa akin mawalan ng ganyan,” said Bernie Arsiano, whose wife was among the 18 who were killed in the accident, in a report on GMA News' “24 Oras” Monday night.

The passenger bus, operated by Don Mariano Transit Corp., fell off the southbound part of the Skyway in Taguig City before dawn Monday and crashed into a van below. It was believed to be over-speeding.

Some of the victims were crushed beyond recognition, the “24 Oras” report said.

Mercy Tolentino, whose husband was killed in the accident, took Don Mariano Transit's financial assistance of P75,000 as an insult. “Walang katumbas na pera ang buhay ng asawa ko. Mag-dedemanda ako,” she said in the same report.

Others, however, were more forgiving, but appealed to authorities to thoroughly screen drivers of public utility vehicles.

“Wala naman kami magagawa kung magdedemanda kami. Hindi maiiwasan [ang aksidente], pero sana next time i-tight[en] [ang] pag-screen sa driver kasi buhay ang hinahawakan [nila]," said Edraly Castor.

“Sa injuries na nakita natin mukhang sa crash site itself mukhang wala na talaga. Severe injuries sa head. Puedeng because of impact sa brain nagdugo sa loob,” explained Dr. Victor Valencia of Taguig District Hospital, where 13 survivors are recuperating.

The bus' driver was in critical condition.

Rosine Padios, live-in partner of bus conductor Ramon Labang Jr., who was also killed in the accident, speculated that the driver must have been sleep deprived since the bus headed out at three in the morning despite returning from a previous trip at midnight.

Drugs are pointed at by the Senate as a more probably cause in the incident. During a congressional oversight committee hearing on Monday, senators pushed for the enforcement of Republic Act 10586, which criminalizes drunk and drugged driving. The implementing rules and regulation (IRR) of the law, signed by President Benigno Aquino III last May, has yet to come out, stymieing the law's implementation. — Rie Takumi/KBK, GMA News