Mayor vows to legal aid for families affected by water truck mishap, but…

By Joseph B.A. Marzan

Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas on Monday said he would provide legal assistance to persons and families affected by a water tanker that crashed into a La Paz district neighborhood, despite the nagging possibility of conflict of interest.

Treñas also absolved the city government of any liability in the water tanker crash at Baldoza village on June 11 when he spoke to the media Monday morning.

He added that the affected families were free to file their legal action against the city government and against Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) chief Darryl Darwin Thulasidas, who drove the tanker when it went “berserk” and killed two persons, including a child, and hurt several others.

Treñas stood by Thulasidas, saying that the incident was not the USAR head’s intention. He even likened the incident to the “war on illegal drugs” of the former Duterte administration.

The USAR chief’s fate, the mayor said, would depend on City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (CDRRMO) head Donna Magno, who is the direct superior of USAR.

“We have nothing to do with that. There is nothing really we can do if they file a case, then we will just have to face it. […] We have to understand that it was not [a] deliberate act on [his] part (sic). The person was just trying to help. Unfortunately, it was an accident,” Treñas said.

“[Thulasidas] did not want it to happen. In the ‘drug war’, there was really an intention to kill people. This one was not intended at all,” he added.

Treñas reiterated that the city government was open to providing any form of assistance the victims need, including funeral and legal.

But he was unable to clearly respond to whether there might be a conflict of interest if legal assistance would be provided, given that the incident was being blamed on a city government employee in their regular duty.

“Whatever assistance is necessary and whatever assistance is possible [may be given]. Nothing is really enough. When [a loved one] dies, nothing is really enough. […] There was one [of the casualties] using a metal casket,” he said.

“We will see [on the conflict of interest]. I cannot do anything if it’s not legal, but I always act upon the advice of the [City Legal Office],” he added.

Section 13, Canon III of the Supreme Court’s Administrative Matter No. 22-09-01-SC (Code of Professional Responsibility and Accountability) considers the presence of a conflict of interest as “when a lawyer represents inconsistent or opposing interests of two or more persons”.

The crash incident took the lives of two Baldoza residents, 22-year-old male Oliver Parreñas and 14-year-old female Jey Ann Caburog.

The city government has already started providing food assistance, and the mayor likewise vowed to provide other forms of assistance including educational, funeral, and medical assistance.

‘FREAK ACCIDENT’

The deadly incident did not happen after the Isuzu water tanker truck (license plate LMF 165) rammed into a bakery and a drug store.

Instead, the deaths occurred after two rescue trucks pulled the tanker truck from the wreckage.

Lieutenant Colonel Ethan Estaya, chief of the ICPO Traffic Investigation and Enforcement Unit (TIEU), said most of the victims were residents who were at the scene of the incident.

“In short, most of them, nag-Marites lang,” he said.

In Filipino pop culture, Marites refers to a person who digs up and keeps track of everything, preferably bizarre, usually on social media. It is a contraction of the phrase “Mare, ano ang latest (What’s the latest, my friend)?

In several instances, residents, particularly minors, were told to leave the area but they kept on coming back to observe the investigation.

Police reports indicated that the first incident happened around 4:45 p.m. Sunday when the truck driven by Danilo Dayon, 61, of Barangay Cagamutan Norte, Leganes, Iloilo went wayward as he was navigating from Baldoza Bridge towards Barangay Loboc, La Paz.

As he was negotiating the intersection of the coastal road, Dayon allegedly lost control of the steering wheel and crashed into a bakery and a drug store. One person was hurt at that time.

Estaya said they immediately conducted a traffic investigation until the second incident happened.

An Isuzu rescue truck (license plate RHV 617) pulled the water tanker truck by the rear.

Subsequently, the Iloilo City Emergency Response (ICER) truck tugged the water tanker truck forward.

A certain Ildefonso Herrera, 26, of Barangay Kasing-Kasing, Molo, was driving the ICER truck while Darryl Darwyin Thulasidas, 26, of Barangay South Fundidor, Molo was driving the Isuzu truck.

Estaya said Thulasidas, a member of the City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office, volunteered to maneuver the water tanker truck.

Police reports indicated that the “water tanker accidentally started (its) engine and accelerated.”

“It’s possible that he (Thulasidas) could have stepped on the gas pedal, instead of the brake pedal. That’s why, the truck suddenly accelerated,” Estaya said.

The tanker rammed into five motorcycles and hit the rear portion of the first rescue truck.

After the incident, police arrested Thulasidas. (With a report from Jennifer P. Rendon)