Trigger Warning: Contains graphic descriptions involving vehicular accident and death
Calls for safer roads in Bacolod City were raised after a three-year-old girl was killed when the motorcycle she was in got hit by a ten-wheeler container truck on Tuesday.
Reports said that Venice Areglo lost her life after a truck driven by Jemmy Panes hit the motorcycle carrying her, Jude Jett Areglo, and Sheila Mae Niem at the corner of CL Montelibano Avenue and the Circumferential Road in Brgy. Villamonte.
The adults were left with injuries but Venice was reportedly run over by the truck.
Manila Bulletin reported that based on initial investigation, Jemmy was tailing behind the motorcycle driven by Jude.
Jude was able to cross the road before the traffic light turned red, which signals a vehicle to “stop.”
Jemmy allegedly beat the red light and hit the motorcycle.
This made Jude lose control of the two-wheeled vehicle, causing them to fall on the concrete road. Venice got run over.
The police have reportedly filed charges against Jemmy, who is detained at the Bacolod City Police Station 4.
On the same day, a more detailed version of the incident was shared by online user @rizsupreme on Twitter.
Claiming to have witnessed the incident, she wrote that the truck was “speeding” and had side swept the motorcycle, making the latter fall on the ground.
“Crushed by the motorcycle was a little girl in pink pajamas, who wasn’t moving. Her dad screamed in despair at the truck that didn’t look back,” Twitter user @rizsupreme wrote.
“Her older sister and her mom were shell-shocked, crying. A traffic enforcer halted vehicles. Pedestrians helped the dad lift the motorcycle gently, as they waited for [emergency] health responders. [I] could hear the anguish as our tricycle carefully moved toward our destination,” she added.
User @rizsupreme also cited a friend who she said “lives and drives” in the area.
“Those road crashes were so common that local news media don’t even report about them as much. Because the highway crosses multiple cities; trucks and vehicles sometimes speed mindlessly,” she continued.
“Seconds before the crash, my friend and [I] were talking in the tricycle about how scary it might be to bike along that road even if it had painted bike lanes: ‘Kailangan nila ng Dom* dito, para ipaglaban ang mga tao.’ *Dom is an active transport community organizer in Naga City,” user @rizsupreme added.
She added that they cried on the tricycle ride and in between tours and meals “throughout the whole day,” trying to “debrief and process” what they witnessed.
“No child should be killed on the road. Public policies, designs, and budgets should keep us all safe and alive,” user @rizsupreme said.
“If you are a youth leader, community leader, government leader, or even just a passionate citizen [or] advocate who wants safer streets in Bacolod City or anywhere in Negros Occidental, you may reach out to me or Move As One Coalition so we can do what we can to help,” she added.
Move As One Coalition is a broad coalition of individuals and organizations advocating for a safer, more humane, and more inclusive public transportation system in the country.
Some of its advocacies include commuter-friendly policies, inclusive mobility, and protected bike lanes.
User @rizsupreme’s tweet also prompted others to call for safer public roads following the fatal incident.
“Roads in the Philippines that are designed and built for cars are death traps and so rarely are violators and murderers brought to justice. Our roads need to be safe for all. These heartbreaking scenarios are avoidable but [happen] way too often,” journalist Jhesset Enano wrote.
“Normal lang ito doon, jusko! Hinding hindi ito katanggap-tanggap. Utang na loob, baguhin natin ‘to. Para sa kabataan,” another Twitter user commented with a sad face emoji.
“Ang sakit (sad face with tear emoticon) Friends from Bacolod, let’s make our streets safer for all, especially for our kids!” WeSolve Foundation organizer Ken Abante tweeted.
Last Saturday, reports said a motorcycle rider died after hitting a truck that executed a left turn in Brgy. Banago, a neighborhood in Bacolod City.
Earlier this year, a couple lost their lives after their motorcycle collided with a fuel tanker truck at the Circumferential Road in Brgy. Taculing, another neighborhood in the city.