Lawyer: RTA, et al, could be charged

By JOEY NACALABAN and NITZ ARANCON
Correspondents .

OFFICIALS of the Roads and Traffic Administration (RTA) and other government offices who could have prevented Friday’s tragic accident on the highway in Gusa could be held administratively and criminally liable for the death of government engineer Ifour Manduro.

Lawyer James Judith said this even as Councilor Romeo Calizo, the chairman of the city council’s public safety committee, blamed the accident on the “failure of monitoring” and “negligence.”

Judith said the family of Manduro could opt to press charges against RTA chief Nonito Oclarit, Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) regional director Zenaida Tan, and Land Transportation Office (LTO) regional director Oscar Salcedo.

Salcedo earlier said the highway in Gusa, considered a national road under the territorial jurisdiction of Cagayan de Oro, is the joint responsibility of city hall-RTA, DPWH and LTO.

Judith said even the barangay chairman of Gusa, Marlo Tabac, could be slapped with criminal and administrative case for gross misconduct based on the Local Government Code.

Manduro, a 51-year old engineer at the DPWH district office in El Salvador, Misamis Oriental, died after his driven pick-up truck smashed into the rear of a 12-wheel crane truck that conked in the middle of the dimly lit portion of the highway in Gusa at around 1:30 am. The 12-wheeler had been left there for three days until Friday night, hours after the tragic accident.

Judith said Manduro’s death was a result of nonfeasance or the failure of people in government to act when under an obligation to do so without a sufficient excuse. He said it was the officials legal duty to rid the highway of life-threatening obstructions.

“Kining mga ahensya sa gobyerno sama sa DPWH, manubag sila kay sila ang gitugyanan sa pagpahapsay sa mga national highways. Ang LTO maoy ga kontrolar sa mga sakyanan while ang RTA maoy gapahigayon og traffic rules sa kadalanan,” he explained.

But Judith said only direct members of Manduro’s family can file the cases against the officials.

Councilor Calizo, for his part, said that while the crane truck’s owner, the Ayala group’s Makati Development Corp., would answer much for Engr. Manduro’s death, RTA and other government offices were liable, too.

Calizo said even the traffic division of the Cagayan de Oro City  Police Office (Cocpo) could be made to answer over its inaction.

National highways, according to Calizo, are part of DPWH’s jurisdiction.

“Na-ay gyoy ilang failure of  monitoring ug   dako gyud na nga negligence nila,” he said.

Calizo however said there was no need for the matter to be brought to the attention of the city council because there are enough laws on road safety already.

“Unsa pa may atong hisgotan sa council nga na-a na may atong daghan nga mga bala-od sa public safety. Ang ako lang niini, isip  chairman sa public safety, nga reminder lang nga likayan ang accident sa atong kadalanan,” he said.