Pangasinan lawmaker, 3 others safe after road accident

Thursday, May 5, 2011

DAGUPAN CITY – Pangasinan Representative Leopoldo Bataoil and his three companions are safe after figuring in a road accident in Bugallon, Pangasinan Thursday morning.

Bataoil and his companions were onboard a Nissan Escapade van coming from a village fiesta where he was the guest of honor and speaker when their vehicle was hit by a Dagupan Bus Line passenger bus that overtook another vehicle.

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Bataoil sustained injuries in the forehead, left eye, and left foot.

His daughter, Angela, and their two other companions, identified as PO3 Jim Evangelista and Ruben Escobar Jr., were also injured in the accident. Evangelista and Escobar are his police escort and driver, respectively.

Bataoil and the three other victims were brought to the Villaflor General Hospital in this city, where they were declared out of danger.

The accident happened when Bataoil and company were going home to Lingayen from Bugallon.

Police investigators said the accident happened when bus driver Bemmy Cainap, 43, lost control of the wheel after overtaking a motorcycle and bumped the congressman's van on the opposite side of the road.

Police said Escobar steered the van to the right direction to avoid a head-on collision but the speeding bus still hit it.

While at his hospital bed, Bataoil thanked God for giving them a second life. “It’s like being hit by a knock-out punch of (boxing champ Manny) Pacquiao. But I thank God for this second life,” Bataoil said.

Bataoil, a retired police general and a graduate of the Philippine Military Academy, is a first-term congressman of the second district of Pangasinan province. (with PNA/Sunnex)