According to Bacolod City Councilor Caesar Distrito, only after an overloaded sugarcane truck tipped over and killed the four occupants of an adjacent vehicle, the Bacolod City Police Office-Traffic Management Unit (BCPO-TMU) and the Bacolod Traffic Authority Office (BTAO) will observe existing policies put into place by the Land Transportation Office (LTO) and the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).

Distrito called the situation a lesson learned for the BCPO-TMU and BTAO, saying the two agencies must apprehend all overloaded trucks travelling within the city’s jurisdiction. Incidentally, anti-truck overloading operations were reactivated throughout the province last October.

Meanwhile, the driver of the said sugarcane truck was formally charged for reckless imprudence resulting in multiple homicide and damage to property.

According to Bago City Police Station commander, Police Chief Inspector Joefer Cabural, based on eyewitness accounts, the truck driver, Herman Majomisano, was driving erratically prior to the accident.

The driver, meanwhile, insists the truck had no mechanical problems.

Following the incident, it reportedly took at least 30 minutes for the vehicle’s four occupants to be retrieved from the crash, which required the use of a heavy crane to lift the truck off of the compact car.

Cabural added, the victims were rushed to the city’s district hospital, but they were all declared dead on arrival by hospital staff./DGB, WDJ