A truck loaded with sugarcane rammed into a house in the early morning of January 14th killing two people. It is a tragedy on many levels. Let's take a closer look at the details as they differ from report to report.
A 10-wheeler truck figured in a road crash, slamming into a house along the highway at Brgy. Antipolo, Pontevedra, Negros Occidental, yesterday, killing of its two occupants.
Police said that JR Cordero, 30, died on the spot, while his 58-year-old mother, Ermie, was declared dead on arrival later at the Don Salvador Benedicto Memorial Hospital in La Carlota City.
PCapt. Hancel Lumandaz, Pontevedra acting police chief, in his report to the Negros Occidental Police Provincial Office, disclosed that the 10-wheeler Isuzu truck loaded with sugarcane, driven by Henry Salgado Sr, accompanied by his 8-year-old son, hit the road railings, slammed and fell into the house of Cordero family, resulting in the deaths of JR and his mother.
Also injured were Salgado and his son, as well as Leona Cordero, 12. Both minors, however, sustained minor injuries, while Salgado was reported to be in critical condition, according to the Pontevedra police.
The house of the victims was declared as totally damaged.
In this version of the story a man driving a sugarcane truck slammed into the road railings and fell over into the house. His son was riding shotgun and sustained injuries. A 12 year old girl who lived in the house was also injured. The house was totally damaged.
Now let's see how Philstar reported this story.
A 10-wheeler truck loaded with sugarcane rammed a house along the highway in Barangay Antipolo in Pontevedra, Negros Occidental yesterday, leaving two occupants dead.
Police said JR Cordero, 30, died at the scene while his 58-year-old mother Ermie was declared dead on arrival at the Don Salvador Benedicto Memorial Hospital.
Capt. Hancel Lumandaz, Pontevedra acting police chief, said the truck driver, Henry Salgado Sr., is in critical condition in a hospital while his eight-year-old son and a 12-year-old girl, who were his passengers, suffered minor injuries.
The house of the fatalities was destroyed.
https://www.philstar.com/nation/2022/01/15/2153925/truck-rams-house-2-dead
In this version the house was hit by the sugarcane truck which was driven by Henry Salgado. Riding with him was his 8-year- old son and a 12-year-old girl. We are not told the relation of the girl to the driver. "The house of the fatalities was destroyed" is a rather cumbersome way of saying the house was destroyed.
Next up is Sunstar.
A family was caught by surprised when a 10-wheeler truck loaded with sugarcane rammed through their house at Barangay Antipolo in Pontevedra town, Negros Occidental past 1 a.m. Friday, January 14.
The accident claimed the lives of Ermie Cordero, 58, and her son JR, 30, and caused minor injuries to her daughter Leona, 12, Pontevedra Municipal Police Station deputy chief Lieutenant Rowell Peniero said.
Peniero said JR died on the spot while his mother Ermie died while being treated hours after she was brought at a hospital.
He said the Corderos failed to save themselves as they were sleeping when the accident happened.
Truck driver Henry Salgado, 46, of Barangay Bi-ao in Binalbagan town, and his eight-year-old son, were also injured and were brought to a hospital in La Carlota City, Peniero also said.
The police officials said, however, that the driver needed to be transferred to a hospital in Bacolod City as his injuries were severe.
Investigation showed that the truck was heading west of the provincial road and hit the railings upon reaching the area between Puroks Santan and Amorabita before ramming into the house of the Corderos.
The truck also fell and the about 40 tons of sugarcane it carries also spilled over the house made of mix materials.
The victims needed to be retrieved from the rubble of their collapsed house, Peniero said, adding that Salgado might have lost control over his vehicle since the road was descending.
Salgado may be facing reckless imprudence resulting in multiple homicide with damage to properties.
In this version were are told that the family "was caught by surprised" when a sugarcane truck rammed into their house. In this version we are told that the injured 12-year-old is the daughter of the woman and sister of the man who died. The family "failed to save themselves as they were sleeping" is a very awkward thing to write because it makes it appear like they are responsible for their deaths when the fact is a truck crashed into their home and dumped 40 tons of sugarcane on top of them. The driver could be facing charges.
Finally let's see what Panay News has to say about this story.
A 40-ton cane truck fell on its side and crushed a small house in Barangay Antipolo, Pontevedra, Negros Occidental early yesterday morning. Two people were killed and one was injured.
Authorities identified the fatalities as 30-year-old JR Cordero and his mother, 58-year-old Ermie Cordero.
JR’s sister, 12-year-old Leona, survived but sustained multiple injuries.
Pontevedra police traffic investigator Police Corporal Genesis Beñas, said the truck driven by 46-year-old Henry Salgado, Sr. was heading west and was making a turn when he overshot, causing the truck to fall on to its side and crashing in to the Cordero family’s home.
The victims were trapped for several hours in the wreckage and ultimately both JR and Ermie were declared dead on arrival at a hospital in La Carlota City, Negros Occidental.
Salgado, meanwhile, was hospitalized after the incident. He is believed to be inebriated at the time incident.
It was also not the first instance that the house was involved in an accident.
In September of 2021, a truck also smashed into the house of the Cordero family. No one was injured in that incident, although the family’s dog was killed.
Salgado could face criminal charges over the incident, and police are still waiting for the decision of the Cordero family if they would press charges.
https://www.panaynews.net/cane-truck-crushes-house-in-pontevedra/
This story also tells us that the 12-year-old girl was the sister of the man and daughter of the woman who was killed. We also get the significant detail that the driver was inebriated. Why did none of the other news articles report that? We are also told that Salgado could face criminal charges if the family decided to press charges! That makes no sense if the man was driving drunk. According to the police his son told them he had been drinking all day!
The child of Salgado, aged eight, told policemen his father had been drinking the entire day before driving early in the morning of 15 August when the incident happened.
https://dnx.news/family-including-two-minors-to-face-charges-for-death-of-pa-in-kabankalan-drunk-driver-in-death-of-two-in-pontevedra-still-critical-in-hospital/
That is a crime punishable by law. The government should be the party who brings charges against this man and not the family.
One last thing that this story tells us is that this is not the first time this house was involved in a sugarcane truck accident. In September 2021 a sugarcane truck smashed into the Cordero's house and killed their dog.
A pet dog was killed in a road mishap at Barangay Antipolo, Pontevedra, Negros Occidental yesterday.
According to Police Captain Hancel Lumandaz, town police chief, a German Shepherd was pinned by a pile of sugarcane that fell from a truck which overshot to the roadside.
Lumandaz said the truck driver reportedly lost control of the vehicle when it was about to turn.
The caption on the picture gives us even more information which is not in the article.
A truck loaded with sugarcane overshot to the roadside, hitting a portion of a house, and killing a pet dog at Barangay Antipolo, Pontevedra, Negros Occidental Tuesday.
It's pretty tragic to lose a dog to a wayward sugarcane truck. But it gets worse. This same house was also the location of a sugarcane truck accident exactly a year earlier on January 14, 2021!
Beside the provincial road, if one faces east, an uprooted mango tree lies.
Its branches already wilted, leaves stripped almost a month after Odette, a Category 5 storm roared across the province a week before Christmas eve of 2021.
That tree is on a downward slope of the road that starts to curve right, the part where drivers usually start to hit the brakes.
On 14 January 2021, Ermie Gregorio and her son, JR, were saved by that tree when a truck loaded with sugarcane missed the curve and plunged headlong into their house.
Only a portion of the roof was hit.
A dog in the kitchen died.
Exactly a year later yesterday, 14 January 2022, Ermie and JR were asleep early in the morning around 1am when Henry Salgado was driving a 10-wheeler truck.
https://dnx.news/tiempo-suerte-tragedy-truck-crashes-crushes-house-kills-two/
A year ago the Corderos were saved by a mango tree. A year later the mango tree had been uprooted by typhoon Odette and they had no protection. The fact that they survived a previous sugarcane truck crash only to die exactly a year later from a sugarcane truck crashing into their house serves to increase the weight of the tragedy with the added level of irony.
All three trucks were going around a curve when they overshot it and took a nasty spill on the the same house. Thanks to the magic of Google street view you can virtually travel that dangerous route as it goes through Barangay Antipolo in Pontevedra.
It's unfortunate that every truck driver in the Philippines drives like a maniac speeding and racing through red lights. It does not help that sugarcane trucks are always overloaded giving them a potentially deadly cargo. Generally speaking sugarcane trucks are old rust buckets that seem to be barely held together. Oftentimes they don't have functional headlights. Each one of those trucks is a disaster waiting to happen. It is indeed tragic that this family's house was hit three times by a sugarcane truck but they are not the first.
A mother and her son were injured after a six-wheeler truck loaded with sugarcane crashed into their house at Bangga Malubon, Purok Santol, Barangay Paraiso, Sagay City, Negros Occidental on Monday.
Wounded were Ruby Opelina, 49, and her seven-year-old son, whose name was withheld.
Police Major Antonio Benitez Jr., city police chief, said that the truck driven by 36-year-old Emilio Openio was moving in a descending direction when the vehicle’s brakes allegedly malfunctioned, causing the vehicle to crash into Opelina’s house and damaging it.
Benitez said that the mother was sitting, checking her son, who was sleeping, when the accident occurred past 10 a.m.
Both victims suffered minor injuries.
Benitez said that the mother is still confined at a hospital while her son was already discharged.
He said that the truck driver was already released from police custody after the 18-hour reglementary detention. Both parties also had an initial settlement, he added.
There is no reason the brakes should suddenly malfunction. These accidents are totally preventable if only the drivers practiced safety first which includes making sure the vehicle is 100% functional and slowing when going around a curve.
