Jail officer killed in car crash

By Jennifer P. Rendon

A Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) officer perished in a vehicular incident evening of June 23, 2021 in Jaro, Iloilo City.

Senior Jail Officer 3 (SJO3) Alan Lignig, 49, was on his way home to Barangay Lanit, Jaro, when his Nissan sedan (license plate DKE 398) collided with a 12-wheeler Isuzu drop-side truck.

Lieutenant Colonel Marlon Valencia, Iloilo City Police Office-Traffic Enforcement Unit (ICPO-TEU) chief, said the incident happened around 9:30 p.m. Wednesday in a portion of the circumferential road at Barangay Tacas.

Members of the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) had to be called in to extract Lignig who was pinned behind the steering wheel.

Valencia said the victim’s sedan got stuck under the truck’s front panel.

The collision happened at a crossroad in Tacas village.

Truck driver Raffy Boy Bitala, 36, of Barangay Zerrudo, Sara, Iloilo, was following another truck and may have failed to spot Lignig’s cars, which was running on the opposite lane.

The truck came from Sara town and was loaded with 25 tons of corn to be delivered to Pavia when the crash happened.

Valencia said the truck might have had a hard time driving through the area because of an ongoing road construction and the drive may have avoided a stockpile.

“Because his vehicle is too bulky, Bitala encroached Lignig’s lane as he was making a slight turn,” he said.

According to Bitala, a man who seemed to be working in the area had signaled him to overtake the payloader truck in front him.

Bitala followed the signal, but he was surprised when Lignig’s car crashed into his truck.

It took an hour before rescuers were able to free Lignig from his car.

He was taken to West Visayas State University Medical Center where he was declared dead on arrival.

Bitala, on the other hand, is now detained at Iloilo City Police Station 3 in Jaro pending the filing of charges against him for reckless imprudence resulting in damage to property and homicide.