Killer-bus driver arrives in Manila after 12-hour delay

After being delayed for more than 12 hours, the driver of the bus that killed journalist-professor Chit Estella-Simbulan last May 13 was finally brought to Metro Manila to face charges against him. Daniel Espinosa was brought to Metro Manila on a Philippine Airlines PR-822 flight from Davao City past midnight Friday, radio dzBB reported early Saturday.
He was not with his wife, who had no money to pay for a plane ticket back to Manila. Espinosa, driver of the “Universal Guiding Star" bus that figured in the May 13 incident on Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City, was brought straight to the Quezon City Police District (QCPD) headquarters in Camp Karingal. He underwent a medical examination before being placed under QCPD’s “protective custody" after his lawyer Salvador Panelo sought “protection" from the Philippine National Police. QCPD head Chief Superintendent George Regis said one of the agreements reached with Espinosa’s camp was that the driver would be under s protective custody. The dzBB report said Espinosa’s camp also sought more time to study the case against the bus driver. Espinosa had been charged with reckless imprudence resulting in homicide and damage to property. The preliminary investigation before Quezon City Prosecutor Ronald Torrijos has been moved from May 27 to 2 p.m. of May 31, the dzBB report said. Last Friday afternoon, a plane engine trouble caused delay in Espinosa's scheduled flight to Manila from Davao City in Mindanao. Superintendent Al Abner Santos, Chief of Aviation Security Group, had said police tried to get Espinosa wait-listed on a separate Philippine Airlines flight to Manila. “There was mechanical trouble on the original aircraft that was supposed to take Espinosa to Manila. Its next flight is supposed to be 10 p.m. But we tried to accommodate him on PR-814 scheduled to leave Davao at 6 p.m.," Santos said in an interview on dzBB radio Friday afternoon. Espinosa had been originally scheduled to leave Davao for Manila before noon. Due to the delay, the QCPD and media crews covering the arrival of Espinosa were forced to wait at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport for hours. CCTV missed 2nd bus The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) is looking into Espinosa's claim that at least two other buses were involved in the May 13 incident. Panelo claimed Espinosa told him at least two racing "Nova" buses may have sideswiped the taxi carrying Chit Estella before his bus rammed the cab, radio dzBB reported. But the MMDA said its closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras failed to get information on the other buses involved in the May 13 incident. The MMDA said its CCTV cameras along in the of Commonwealth Avenue where the incident occurred were not working at the time of the crash, radio dzBB reported. Last week’s incident prompted authorities to be stricter in enforcing traffic rules along the 12.4-km Commonwealth Avenue, which some have dubbed a “killer highway." Authorities also have begun investigating if bus firms violate the Labor Code by not giving social benefits to its workers, dzBB reported. The move stemmed from theories that bus drivers were forced to race each other for additional passengers because they earn through "commission system." — LBG, GMA News