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NEWSPAPER pages covered the lifeless body of a two-year-old boy who was killed on the spot after he was struck by an armored vehicle as he crossed the street on a pedestrian lane Thursday morning, May 10, in Barangay 3-A, Davao City.
Near the victim’s body is the street food that he munched on before the accident.
Police Officer (PO3) Khrist Mark Manulat, traffic investigator of San Pedro Police, said the boy, identified as Loviege Pangantihon, was crossing the pedestrian lane together with his mother Angeli Pelaez when he was run over by the truck at about 11 a.m. Thursday.
"They were crossing the pedestrian lane from Jollibee to Chowking food court when the victim was accidentally hit and rolled over the right front wheel of the armored van resulting to his instantaneous death having sustained fatal injury in his head," Manulat said.
He identified the driver of the Dasia security agency armored truck as Gregorio A. Vito Jr, 23, a resident of Phase 3 Monte Maria Dakak St., Davao City based on his driver's license. He has been driving for three years.
It took an hour before the driver stepped out of the vehicle because he was worried that bystanders, who were angry at him for the incident and called him an irresponsible driver, would gang up on him.
The driver later drove the truck in a convoy with the police to the police station.
In their interview with the mother, Manulat said the mother narrated that they used the pedestrian lane to go to the other side. They already noticed that there was a vehicle approaching. The mother was still holding her child who was ahead of her and suddenly her child was already underneath the vehicle with his head crushed.
"According sa witness, ang bata kauban iyang mama nagtabok ni sila sa may pedestrian so karon niagi ning armour sa Dasia mao to ang bata nasulod sa ilalom sa armor (A witness said that the child was with the mother when they crossed the pedestrian lane when a Dasia armored vehicle passed and hit the child)," he said.
The incident resulted in a major traffic congestion at the junction of nearby C.M. Recto Street after San Pedro Street, where the accident transpired, was closed temporarily.
The police investigator said they did not see any skid marks that could indicate if a vehicle's speed was within normal level. As part of the investigation, they will also look at the closed circuit television (CCTV) footage to give light to the incident since there were conflicting versions from witnesses.
However, a video of the incident has already gone viral online.
It showed that the vehicle was moving slowly while waiting for the mother and the kid to finally cross. The mother was initially holding her son but the child suddenly let go of her hand and backtracked without noticing the armored car.
In an interview, the driver denied that he sped up. He said he slowed down because of the pedestrian lane. He admitted that he saw the people on the pedestrian lane but he did not notice the child who got stuck underneath his vehicle.
"Wala ko kabantay sir. Dili tinood sir nga kusog ang padagan kay naay nitabok una, pedestrian gud na sir minor gyud ka ana sir. Nakabantay gani ko kay nakagawas nako sa pedestrian wala ko nagdahom nga ing-ato ang mahitabo (I went slow because it was a pedestrian lane. I didn't expect the incident would happen)," he said, adding that he only knew that there was a rammed kid when the armour alarmed.
He asked for forgiveness from the family of the victim.
Should there be formal complaint, the driver would face charges of reckless imprudence resulting to homicide.
Authorities, meanwhile, advised drivers of vehicles to be alert and slow down especially when they are approaching a pedestrian lane.
The victim’s body was brought to Angel Funeral Homes.
