There was a bus crash in the town of Argao here in Cebu today; one of the passengers was killed and ten were injured.
Bus drivers here are notoriously crazy – they speed, they pass on blind corners, they race each other, and they battle for passengers. These practices were apparently involved in today’s incident:
He said that based on witnesses’ account, Ceres bus 8304 (plate number CEH 994) was chasing another bus, Sunrays, about 10:45 a.m. as the drivers of the two vehicles were apparently having a contest on who could pick up more passengers at the Argao town proper.
Ceres came from Samboan town and was heading to Cebu City like the Sunrays bus. After overtaking Sunrays, Ceres driver Ernesto Zerna failed to control the Ceres bus as it was running too fast and the road was slippery, Tecson said, citing initial findings of police investigation.
The Ceres bus rammed a big Gmelina tree along the national highway of Talaga, about three kilometers from the town proper.
The driver was taken into custody and may very well be punished.
But I can guarantee you that nothing will be done to the executives or ownership of the bus company, who pay the drivers commission on the number of passengers carried and the number of trips completed, thus not merely condoning but incenting the reckless driving.
For similar examples, we have Sulpicio Lines, which has been involved in several fatal maritime incidents, but never punished, and Cebu Pacific, whose plane crashed in Davao recently and received no punishment for their failure to train their crew on emergency procedures.
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