RESIDENTS here have expressed apprehension over a series of automobile accidents that transpired in Cagayan de Oro and elsewhere in the Northern Mindanao Region.
After the fatal incidents on Bugo and Gusa highways last week, involving a ‘bao-bao’ and ‘food maxim’ drivers, a 25-year-old master student met a tragic end in another road mishap on Thursday dawn, also in Cagayan de Oro.
The ill-fated victim, Jacob Padre ‘Jecko’ Bonilla from Camella Homes, Upper Balulang was speeding south along Masterson Avenue-Macapagal drive near SM Uptown, Barangay Carmen when his motorcycle rammed into a garbage truck that suddenly appeared to come from a crossing corner where the Hall of Justice building is situated.
Rescuers managed to pull out Bonilla from underneath the blue-colored truck, but the youthful rider failed to survive from severe multiple injuries.
Traffic chief executive, Master Sgt. Senen Barbaso said the driver of the city government-owned truck identified as Romowell Bautisado Baslotid is now facing charges of reckless imprudence resulting in homicide and damage to property.
“Motorcycle accidents in the city usually happen at night or in (the) wee hours when traffic enforcers are no longer visible. I think it’s high time now to install monitoring cameras in accident-prone areas to check erring drivers. This will deter them to observe (the) speed limit,” remarked Roberto Caballero from the Green CdeO Eagles Club’s so-called Handsome Riders.
“Angayan pud i-drug test kanang mga drivers sa garbage trucks sa City Hall kay wadwad gyod na sila mopadagan kuyawan ta kon masabay nato sila sa uptown area. Maayo masuta kon wala ba na silay gi-take kay gahaguros ra permi sa kadalanan,” businessman Jay Buot told Gold Star Daily.
Engr. Nonito Oclarit, department manager of the city’s Roads and Traffic Administration, admitted earlier that existing local and national laws have not been strictly enforced even with the rise of fatal road mishaps due to over-speeding.
The RTA personnel, Oclarit said, are not also equipped with the expensive speed guns with an estimated value of P1 million each, but could accurately measure the speed of motor vehicles.
“We need them (speed guns) but they’re very expensive,” he said.
The speed limit, Oclarit said, is 30 kilometers per hour on city streets and 40 kilometers per hour along the highway.
Early this week, the RTA men pounced on bao-bao drivers illegally plying along Centrio Mall up to Lapasan highway that resulted in the impounding of at least eight bao-bao units, which looked like in turtle form but faster than the other tricabs.
Oclarit said that over a hundred tricab units are operating in the city which increases danger when they’re competing with the four-wheel vehicles along the national highway.
“Even those bao-bao units from the eastern and western parts of Misamis Oriental have been illegally operating in the city. And we’re keeping an eye to check them with the help of the Land Transportation Office and the Cagayan de Oro City Police Office,” Oclarit said in a radio interview.
In the neighboring city of Iligan, lack of discipline and ignorance of traffic rules have been attributed to the alarming rates of traffic accidents.
Iligan City Police Director P/Col. Dominador Estrada said that of the 410 accidents recorded in a certain period of time, it involved motorcycles driven by people who were mostly clueless about traffic laws and rules.
Estrada also cited drunk driving as prevalent among motorists.
