THREE women were killed and two men were injured after the van they boarded crashed while traveling a curve along the national highway in Kauswagan village, Cagayan de Oro, around 2 a.m., Wednesday, July 5.
The fatalities were identified as Cherish Salvaña of Opol, Jobelyn Jayag of Barangay Lapsan, and Jessa Shane Fabria of El Salvador City.
The driver of the Toyota Hi-ace van was identified as Mohammad Isah Taha and while the other male passenger was identified as John Vincent Advincula.
Both sustained injuries and were rushed to the Northern Mindanao Medical Center.
Police said the van driven by Taha was traveling along the highway heading towards the west part of the city.
Upon reaching the curve portion of the highway, the driver suddenly lost control and crashed towards the open canal on the side.
Police said the investigation is still ongoing on the cause of the accident.
Relatives of the fatalities expressed shock on the untimely demise of their loved ones.
Rudy Salvaña regretted letting his wife go last night when she asked permission from him if she could go back to Cagayan de Oro. Cherish Salvaña worked as a sales lady for H&M boutique while Rudy worked as a staff for Goldilocks, both in a mall here in the city.
After their work shift on Wednesday, Rudy and his wife immediately went home to the Municipality of Binuangan. They have been married for eight years and have a seven-year-old son, who is staying among Rudy's family in Binuangan. They got home a little past 7 p.m.
Cherish, however, asked him while on the bus on their way if she could go back to the city later at around 10 p.m. She insisted that she has to come to work early tomorrow because of a requirement in her workplace. Hence, she needed to stay in their house in Barra, Opol.
"Ni hindi ko nga alam na kasama niya pala ‘yung mga kaibigan niya kanina. Dito (Bollozos Funeral Homes) ko na nalaman. Akala ko uuwi lang siya sa amin sa Opol. (I did not even know that she was with her friends earlier. I only knew about it in Bollozos Funeral Homes. I thought she was only going home to our place in Opol)," Rudy said.
Salvaña and Fabria were former employees of Executive Optical along with Jayag who still works there. According to their relatives, the three were still friends and were contacting each other and were sometimes still spending some time together.
"Nag uban man na sila'g manarbaho sa Executive Optical pero na off na sila mga four months na man guro. Pero amiga gihapon na sila ug gakita pud sila usahay. (They were former employees of Executive Optical but they have been off the contract for about six months now. But they were still friends and they still see each other from time to time)," said Joven Fabria, the father-in-law of Jessa Shane Fabria.
Response team
Councilor Leon Gan said he wants to look into reports that the city’s first responders allegedly did not get to the scene fast enough.
The accident, Gan said, happened past 2 a.m. but the rescue team arrived after two hours.
He added the rescue and response team of the City Government had acquired complete equipment, training and logistics.
The councilor also said he would also include in his special report in the council's regular session on Monday, July 10, if hospitals nearby also have liabilities.
But, City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Department officer Allan Porcadilla denied Gan's claims.
Porcadilla said they received the call about 3:24 a.m., the team left the headquarters at 3:33 a.m. and arrived in the scene at 3:40 a.m.
"Ing-ana ra kadugay ang langan bisan kung mahimo less than 7 or 5 minutes gyud unta (If possible, the delay should be less than 7 to 5 minutes)," he said.
"Kani recorded tanan sa logbook ug sa computer unya kana nga record sa computer dili na ma-alter (These were all recorded in the logbook ang in computer, which can never be altered)," Porcadilla added.
He said Gan's claims that the rescue team took almost three hours to respond is exaggeration.
The officer said they are willing to face the City Council to explain their side.
"Mas maayo nga ma-imbestigahan aron ma-explain namo among side (It’s better that they will conduct an investigation so we can explain our side)" Porcadilla added.