By SHIELA MAE BUTLIG
with NITZ ARANCON
Correspondents
COUNCILOR Reuben Daba wants a city-wide liquor ban on Sundays.
The councilor said this even as he called again for stricter regulations on the sale of liquor in the city, citing the Palm Sunday rampage that resulted in seven deaths on the highway in Cugman, this city.
Daba said he would deliver a special report about the deaths that were initially blamed on drunk driving in the hope of convincing other members of the city council to support his proposal for stiffer rules on the sale of intoxicating drinks in the city.
Initially, police blamed what was first thought as accidents on drunk driving until investigators stumbled on an exchange of text messages between truck driver Freddie Talisayan and his girlfriend that showed that the suspect actually threatened to crash the six-wheeler or run people over with it.
Daba said Talisayan was reeking with liquor when he drove the six-wheel truck, and that should be enough reason for city hall to go very strict on liquor sale.
He said he was convinced that what happened to Talisayan was a case of pathological intoxication or when alcohol and a person’s abnormal bodily condition trigger an explosive reaction or loss of self-control.
The 30-year old Talisayan told the Gold Star Daily that he was unaware that he was driving a truck the night he plowed the vehicle through motorcycles and a motorela two Sundays ago.
But he said he remembered seeing a wide and obstruction-free highway.
Talisayan said he did not even remember hitting anyone that night.
“Dinhi ra ko nasayod sa silda nga na-a kunoy akong naligsan. Wala man ko masayod nga nag-drive ko. Hawan man kaayo ang dalan sa akong tan-aw. Wala may sagabal,” he said.
The truck initially killed Ronnie Abrio and his children Kenneth Miso, 10, Stephanie Nicole, 8, and Sophia, 5, who were riding a motorcycle on their way home to Consolacion. The victims are scheduled to be laid to rest at the City Public Cemetery in Bolonsuri in Camaman-an today.
The truck, speeding at some 100 kilometers per hour, then rammed a motorela, killing three passengers identified as Mae Bonior, 17, Vanessa Tadlas, 29, and Vevine Nacaya, 23, before it hit another motorcycle and sideswiped a public jeepney that came from Tagoloan, Misamis Oriental.
At least four other people were hurt in the highway rampage.
Daba noted that there is already an existing liquor ordinance but he said there was a need for stricter rules.
The councilor earlier proposed to regulate the selling hours for liquor or only from 4 pm to 11 pm during weekdays, and until or an hour after midnight on weekends, except Sundays.
Daba said establishments that sell intoxicating drinks should be closed by 11 pm from Monday to Thursday, and by 1 am on Fridays and Saturdays. He proposed a liquor ban in the city on Sundays.
Daba said he would discuss his proposal in detail when he delivers his special report.
He said city hall should also go very strict against the sale of liquor to teenagers below 15 years old.
“Fifteen (years old) below dapat dili makapalit ug ilimnon,” said Daba.
Violators, he said, should be slapped with stiff penalties.
Daba, chair of the city council’s social services committee, said the committee would meet with representatives of the city’s women, religious and student sectors, including academics, so they could tackle his proposal.
“Nganong tugutan man nato ang tao muinom og sobra nga puwede man nato irregulate?” Daba asked rhetorically.
He said last week’s deaths in Cugman were enough to make the city council act on the problem on liquor sale.
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