THIS is what a driver of a prime mover truck told police.
He was on the trail of two motorcycles heading south last Thursday night, Aug. 15, 2019, when the unthinkable happened.
The driver of one of the motorcycles, a black Honda XRM, suddenly kicked the other motorcycle, a Yamaha Mio scooter, driven by Eben Entice, a 32-year-old resident of San Fernando.
The incident took place in Barangay Lagtang in the City of Naga.
Entice lost control of the wheel and ended up crashing. Unfortunately for him, the driver of the truck on his trail, 50-year-old Rolando Compasion, was unable to hit the brakes on time as he was taken by surprise by what he just witnessed.
As a result, his truck ran over Entice. The victim was rushed to the Minglanilla District Hospital, where he was declared dead on arrival.
Pretty straightforward, right? Let’s look at the facts again, shall we?
Compasion’s truck ran over Entice last Thursday night. There’s no argument there since the former admits to it. And I guess hospital staff can attest that Entice was already dead when he was brought to the facility.
So we only have Compasion’s word that a driver of another motorcycle kicked the victim’s motorcycle, which resulted in the latter losing control and crashing and then getting run over by his truck.
I don’t know if there are any security cameras on that stretch of highway that might have captured the incident to confirm what Compasion told police.
But even if it turns out that Compasion is indeed telling the truth, he is not off the hook yet, according to Major Jason Villamater, chief of the City of Naga Police Station.
Police will still file a case of reckless imprudence resulting in homicide against him, Villamater said, adding that they are also looking for witnesses to corroborate Compasion’s story.
Even then, finding the culprit will be akin to looking for a needle in a haystack.
After all, how many black Honda XRMs are registered in that part of Cebu, not to mention the ones that are not registered? Plus, Compasion did not mention seeing what the driver looked like. He was looking at the latter’s back so obviously he would not be able to his face. Obviously.
So yes, identifying the other driver would be next to impossible, especially if he was wearing a full-face helmet.
It didn’t help that Compasion did not notice in what direction he fled. In other words, the culprit could be anywhere.
Anyway, here’s what I surmised based on the facts given to me.
Compasion must have been tailgating the victim’s motorcycle on the night the incident took place. I mean, he must have been driving dangerously close behind Entice, which would explain why Compasion had no time to react when the former’s motorcycle “fell.”
Look at it this way. If Entice was arguing with another motorcycle driver, the two must have held up the vehicle behind them. They had to be going at moderate speed otherwise the other driver would have also lost his balance when he kicked Entice’s motorcycle.
Compasion might have been in a hurry to get to his destination and was attempting to overtake.
Then again, maybe it happened exactly the way he said it happened and Compasion was just at the wrong place at the wrong time.