ONE family woke up early last Sunday to go to the airport and bid goodbye to their father, an overseas Filipino worker. Nobody could know the tragedy that lurked ahead in ambush of the unsuspecting victims.
One cannot imagine the agony the father felt when his five-year-old daughter was crushed to death by a sports utility vehicle that plowed into a group of people at the entrance of Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA).
The SUV was driven by a 47-year-old man who claimed he panicked and forgot to step on the brake, making his vehicle an instrument of death. The incident also left a 29-year-old man dead and injured four others.
In an earlier incident, a wayward bus caused a deadly five-vehicle smash-up at the SCTEX toll booth in Tarlac on Friday, killing 10 persons, six of them children on their way to a church camp. Also among the victims was a young couple who left behind a two-year-old son, who will now grow up an orphan because the bus driver fell asleep at the wheel.
‘…the families of the dead victims, including the OFW father who was seen on social media being prevented from attacking the SUV driver by authorities, want justice for the senseless deaths of their loved ones.’
Another prior road crash involved a trailer truck that lost its brakes on a hilly portion of Antipolo and rolled back, smashing into vehicles on its deadly path, including a sedan with its female driver and her passenger. This incident also flattened a passenger jeepney, killing the driver instantly. Rescuers needed more than five hours to extricate the body from the wreckage.
The SUV driver was taken into police custody, and his driver’s license suspended for 90 days. The “sleeping” bus driver and the truck driver were also arrested.
These incidents left the public, especially their families, wondering in sorrow, “Why? What happened? How did they happen?”
Others have raised the question: “Were these drivers on drugs?”
In the case of the bus driver, he tested negative for alcohol, but refused to undergo a drug test. The PNP office in Tarlac let him get away with it, which, according to a senator, was unacceptable. The legislator said that under the law, the driver should not refuse a drug test and the PNP should subject the driver to a drug test.
These tragedies, which could have been avoided, have renewed concerns over road safety. Data from the PNP-Highway Patrol Group shows that last year alone, more than 31,000 road crashes occurred, leading to nearly 2,750 deaths involving over 47,000 vehicles.
Calls have now been made for a full investigation into the NAIA incident, urging authorities to prioritize victim welfare.
With rising fatalities and recurring deadly smash-ups, officials and the public alike are pressing for urgent and long-term solutions to address the country’s transport safety crisis.
But the families of the departed victims, including the furious OFW father who was seen on social media being restrained by the authorities from attacking the SUV driver, want justice for the senseless deaths of their loved ones. We demand that, too.
