Dumaguete-based journalist Raffy Cabristante revisits and looks deeper into what is now considered Negros Oriental's most tragic road crash in 2019. Here he explores the human loss, the struggle for survival, and the sheer lack of traffic discipline and road safety that led to the loss of seven young lives.
Story by RAFFY CABRISTANTE
Graphics by MICHAEL DIOSIM ENDAB
Prologue
“Pauli ta, pauli. (Let’s go home.)”
Cherry Rose Cadusale, 17, posted these three words on Facebook, just hours after they left Cebu City on the way to Dumaguete City, the capital of their home province Negros Oriental. She, along with her twin sister Cherry Ann and their teammates from Basay National High School (BNHS), were more than excited to go home to bring packs of pasalubong and the good news: their team won seventh place in the Department of Education’s Regional MathSayaw dance competition on February 28.
The group was composed of BNHS’ “cream of the crop”: Cherry Ann and Cherry Rose, 17, fellow senior high school students Justine Generoso, 18, Jessie Mae Sabanal, 18, Joshua Busmeon, 18, James Bagarinao, 18, Christian Buenconsejo, 17, Elmar Toquero, 17, Willie CJ Chua, 17, and junior high school freshman Kevin Aguilar, 14.
It was the twins’ first time in Cebu, a city much bigger and busier than their quiet hometown of Basay, Negros Oriental’s southernmost town about 113 kilometers away from Dumaguete City. And it had been a fruitful one, despite the challenges.
Their teacher-adviser John Mark Prestin, 26, recalled the major setback they experienced: Prior to the day of the competition, they spent the entire night making all of their props from scratch because they accidentally left the original ones in Basay.
“I could see the passion in the students. They never complained. They did everything in their control so they could win,” Prestin said in a mixture of English and Cebuano.
A few hours later, the team finally crossed the Tañon Strait to make it from Cebu to Negros Oriental. Cherry Rose, being the teenager that she was, posted another update on Facebook:
“@Dumaguete.”
It was 5:00 in the morning of a Friday, March 1st. It was raining by the time they arrived. But even with the weather, they managed to get together and take a picture in front of the iconic #DumaGetMe sign at the pantawan (sea deck) of the Rizal Boulevard. As it turned out, this photo was going to be their last picture together as a team.
After competing in Cebu City, these students from Basay National High School pose for a picture at the iconic DumaGetMe sign at the Rizal Boulevard. They were just two and a half hours away from home. John Mark Prestin
The group temporarily split; the first half led by Generoso, the second half led by Prestin. Taking two pedicabs (the Dumaguete term for tricycles), the two smaller groups headed for the van-for-hire (V-hire) terminal in Barangay Calindagan, just a few minutes away from the boulevard. Since Generoso’s group already boarded a V-hire and had their props on board, Prestin’s group followed suit and went inside the van.
The van left the terminal at exactly 6:00 in the morning. Cherry Rose shared a post on Facebook as they left, which was seemingly foreshadowing of what was to happen moments later:
“Can I receive an ‘I love you’ for no reason?”
About 30 minutes into the trip, the southbound van was plying the national highway along Barangay Mayabon in Zamboanguita town, 20 kilometers south of Dumaguete, when it suddenly started swerving, reportedly due to the slippery road brought by the rain. Not too far away, a cargo truck was in the opposite lane, driving slowly northbound.
Upon seeing the truck, the driver of the V-hire—29-year-old Jaypee Sarad—tried to hit the brakes as his vehicle traveled at 70 kilometers an hour. He attempted to stop it from swerving but the van skidded instead, its right side speeding towards the truck’s bumper.
Screams were heard inside the van. Then, tragedy struck.
The Zamboanguita Crash:
A LOOK BACK
This map of Negros Oriental and Cebu (in red) shows the key places in the Zamboanguita Crash. The yellow-green line illustrates the route the students were supposed to take, until they met the accident in Barangay Mayabon.
Part 1: Loss
March 1 was supposed to be just another morning at work for 50-year-old Vilma Cadusale. But it wasn’t.
She was about to begin her day at work as a personal assistant for Basay Mayor Beda Cañamaque. But as soon as she started making breakfast for her boss, Cañamaque immediately told her to go home.
“Niana siya nako, ‘Bing, pauli kay ang mga bata nadisgrasya.’ Niana pa gani siya ato nga basi dili kuno tinuod, basig lahi ra, ana si mayor (He told me to go home because the kids got into an accident. He said he was hoping the news wasn’t true),” Vilma recounted.
She had waited for her twins Cherry Ann and Cherry Rose, who she last saw as eager and excited to leave home for their first ever trip to see the bright big city lights of Cebu. Unfortunately, the smiling twins returned home as cold, lifeless bodies.
“Daghan nang mga nanawag nako, nga ang kambal kuno— (I had been getting lots of calls about the twins, that they—)”
Vilma broke down midsentence as she recounted the fate of her young twin daughters. After fighting back tears, she continued telling her story, a subject that she had been avoiding for more than a month since the crash.
It was only later that day when she learned that Cherry Rose and Cherry Ann perished in the mishap. Vilma recounted how, while on the way to Dumaguete to check on how the twins were doing, her friends from the local social welfare and development office tried to prepare her for the tragic news that she was about to learn for herself.
“Gipainom ko nila ug tambal para daw sa akong high blood (They let me drink medication for my hypertension).”
No one from her friends told her up front about the fate of her daughters. They mentioned the other students who were injured, but according to Vilma, there was no word about Cherry Rose and Cherry Ann until they got to the Negros Oriental Provincial Hospital.
The mood got darker when the vehicle that Vilma and her eldest daughter Kiichi were in directly headed for the hospital’s morgue instead of the emergency room. As they entered the morgue, Vilma’s friend called out to Kiichi: “Uyati imong mama, day (Hold your mother).”
And then she saw a body marked “Cadusale.” It was Cherry Ann.
The portraits of 17-year-old twins Cherry Ann (left) and Cherry Rose (right) Cadusale now sit at their family altar, the very first thing one sees upon entering their home in Basay. Behind their pictures are posthumous awards given by the Basay government. Raffy Cabristante
All hell broke loose for Vilma upon seeing her daughter’s remains. She felt numb as she embraced Cherry Ann’s bloodied body, ignoring warnings from hospital staff to stay away from the corpse.
“Nganong ‘di man nako halogon ni nga anak man nako ni? (Why would I not hug her? She’s my daughter!)” an emotional Vilma remembered snapping back.
Losing both her daughters in a snap caused Vilma twice the pain. Cherry Rose and Cherry Ann both dreamed of becoming flight attendants in the hopes of financially helping their family. But now, it will only remain as it is—just a dream.
She admitted that it still hurts her to talk about the twins, who were both known to be consistent honor students in school. “Di ko ganahang maghisgot pa nila ba, kay di baya lalim ang akong paningkamot sa bata nga duha… unya ingon ana ra ang gakahitabo (I still don’t want to talk about them, because I worked hard for those kids… and that’s what happens to them).”
Her hope now rests on her only surviving daughter Kiichi, who is set to take hotel and restaurant management as she enters college this school year.
For Nora Buenconsejo, 58, losing her son Christian also caused great pain for her entire family. She was hoping that her son would fulfill his dream of becoming a police officer to help them financially.
Even Kevin’s mother, Flordeliza Aguilar, is still trying to accept the fact that her 14-year-old son is no longer with her. She shared that while her entire family made a living out of fishing, Kevin dreamed of leaving home to search for a better life in a bigger city.
But like Cherry Rose and Cherry Ann, Christian’s and Kevin’s dreams were crushed in an instant on that fateful morning of March 1.
The names, faces, and ages of the six Basay National High School students who perished in the Zamboanguita crash of March 1.
Cherry Rose, Cherry Ann, Christian, Kevin, and another teammate, Joshua Busmeon, were the first five who immediately died in the tragic Zamboanguita crash. During their wake in Dumaguete City on March 2, Department of Education (DepEd) Secretary Leonor Briones personally condoled with their bereaved families.
Justine Generoso died from multiple injuries—including a wound to the head—at the Silliman University Medical Center 19 days after the crash. He never regained consciousness.
The six are now buried together in a memorial at the Basay Public Cemetery. Since her daughters’ passing, Vilma said that visiting their graves at least once has become part of her daily routine.
Vilma Cadusale, along with her son, daughter-in-law and granddaughter, visits the graves of her twin daughters, who are buried with their teammates who died in the March 1 crash. Raffy Cabristante
Because of the crash, Briones stated that DepEd is eyeing to insure all 27 million schoolchildren in the Philippines, as well as to establish a quick response fund to address unforeseen incidents just like the Zamboanguita mishap. These, she noted, will be included in her agency’s 2020 national budget.
Reflecting on the crash, Briones said: “It’s really such a great loss. We did not lose only the lives of children; we lost so much promise, so much ambition, so much hope.”
Scenes from the wake of Cherry Rose, Cherry Ann, Kevin, Joshua, and Christian in Dumaguete City on March 2, 2019. Education Secretary Leonor Briones flew to Negros to personally condole with the bereaved families. Photos courtesy of Adolf Aguilar and Sec. Briones' Facebook page
Part 2: Survival
It all happened too fast.
This was how John Mark Prestin, the teacher-adviser of the student dancers from BNHS, described how the crash unfolded right before his very own eyes on that Friday morning of March 1st.
Most of the time, John Mark said he slept along the way, tired from the regional MathSayaw contest in Cebu City the day before.
He woke up just moments before the crash, when the van suddenly hurled itself while overtaking a motorcycle. While it may have sped past the other vehicle, the van started swerving.
The van kept swerving towards the cargo truck on the opposite lane a few meters away. It was a matter of two to three seconds, with screams prevailing inside the van. John Mark had little time to react.
Bang. The van crashed into the truck. And everything went black.
These pictures were taken minutes after the crash at around 6:30 a.m. of March 1, 2019. The condition of both the van-for-hire and cargo truck show how strong the collision impact was. Photos courtesy of Zamboanguita Police
Moments later, John Mark regained consciousness and noticed that Sarad was no longer in the driver’s seat. He had escaped.
He did a self-check and for a short while, had difficulty of breathing. When he felt that he was okay, he checked on his students and saw them in disarray. Some of them were unconscious, while some were bleeding and wounded with shards of the van’s broken windows near their bodies.
Nearby, he heard someone crying. It was his student Jessie Mae, whose leg was trapped by debris.
Rescuers immediately came to the scene and got everyone out of the crash site. John Mark asked the rescuers about the status of each student. While some were okay, the rescuers shook their heads on five of his students—they were dead on the scene.
John Mark was with his students when they were rushed to hospitals in Dumaguete City. But since he had minor injuries of his own, he also had to be admitted.
Among the five people in their group who survived the mishap, John Mark was the least injured. After four days, he got out of the hospital.
Three of his students were released days later—Jessie Mae Sabanal, Willie CJ Chua, and James Bagarinao.
Elmar Toquero was discharged two months later, on May 3. He is now undergoing physical therapy in Dumaguete thrice a week.
From left to right: Education Secretary Leonor Briones talks to Willie CJ Chua and John Mark Prestin while undergoing treatment. Days later, a smiling Chua was discharged from the hospital. More than a month after the crash, teammates Chua, Jessie Mae Sabanal, and Elmar Toquero meet during the hearing of their case against V-Hire driver Sarad at the Hall of Justice in Dumaguete City. While undergoing therapy, Toquero had to wear a face mask to protect himself from infections. Photos courtesy of Sec. Briones' Facebook page, Adolf Aguilar, Willie CJ Chua and Elmar Toquero
The DepEd Bayawan City Division, which has jurisdiction over BNHS, spearheaded the campaign to fund the hospital bills for John Mark and the students. Donations—whether in cash, in kind, or in bags of blood—poured in from all over the country.
While he is lucky to be alive, John Mark said that his heart goes out to his six students who perished.
He also shared that the road mishap changed how he looks at life now.
“Sa una, di man kaayo ko motoo anang oras. Pero pagkahuman ato, nakakita ko nga kung oras na nimo, oras na gyud siguro nimo (I didn’t really believe much about one’s time to die. But after what happened, I guess I saw that when it’s time for you to go, it really is time),” John Mark said.
The crash site in Barangay Mayabon, Zamboanguita town today, with the similar rainy weather and wet road conditions as the morning of the accident. Raffy Cabristante
Final Part: Probe
Initial investigation from the Zamboanguita Police showed that among the factors contributing to the crash were the van’s worn rear tires, which lost traction with the road that had become slippery due to the rain that morning.
After initially escaping the scene, Sarad surrendered to authorities and admitted that he was aware of the van’s worn tires. “Madala pa man kuno ug biyahe (The operator told me that the tires were still okay for travel),” he said.
This was also among the main findings in the independent probe conducted by the Land Transportation Office (LTO) in Dumaguete City, headed by Dr. Janine Lawas. But aside from this, the LTO also found other factors.
The LTO also found that Sarad was driving at a speed of 70 kilometers per hour, contrary to what he told police that he was driving at 80. Under the law, however, he was still running at the prescribed speed.
“But in that kind of weather… he would not be running at that speed. I think it might have been better if he was running at a slower speed. Especially that our roads here are unevenly paved,” Lawas said.
The agency’s investigation also showed that there were customized extension seats inside the van that accommodated passengers beyond its intended seating capacity. This, Lawas said, is prohibited by law.
Building from statements made by the survivors of the accident seated directly beside the driver’s seat, the LTO probe also showed that Sarad was talking to someone on his cellphone shortly before he overtook a motorcycle and skidded down the highway.
Lawas also noted the sheer lack of traffic signs in the crash site, which is a slightly curved downhill slope along the Negros South Road. Signs such as “Slow Down,” “Slippery When Wet,” and “Accident Prone Area” could have helped warn Sarad to tread carefully along that part of the road in Barangay Mayabon, Zamboanguita.
“If you noticed, there are public schools and churches along national highways. Some hospitals, and even our own public market is right along the national highway. This makes these areas very prone to accidents,” she said.
She added that funds should be given to local government units (LGUs) for the installation of these traffic signs, as they determine which roads in their respective areas are prone to accidents.
Lawas has also requested the LTO’s Region 7 office to establish a Motor Vehicle Inspection Center (MVIC) in Dumaguete, since it has the modern equipment to accurately determine a vehicle’s roadworthiness. In Negros Oriental, only manual inspections are conducted for vehicles under registration.
The LTO in Dumaguete also recommended that the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) conduct ocular inspections on roads and highways to see what can be fixed to avoid accidents such as the Zamboanguita crash to happen again.
As of this writing, Sarad is facing charges of reckless imprudence resulting to multiple homicide and serious physical injuries. The first hearing into the case was held in a Dumaguete City court on May 15.
Whether or not Sarad is truly at fault for the tragic Zamboanguita crash is up to the court to decide, Lawas said.
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Immediately after the crash on March 1, residents of Barangay Mayabon in Zamboanguita set up this makeshift memorial made of old wheels, cans, and pieces of wood. For at least ten days, they lit candles and did daily vigils here to pray for the eternal rest of the young lives that perished on this place. Raffy Cabristante
Produced and developed for the web by Raffy Cabristante