Teacher Mica Marie Servano was in tears when she said she felt very lucky to be alive. She is one of the few passengers who survived the deadly bus crash that killed 18 people, including the driver, the conductor and inspector.

She still feels pain in some parts of her body, but overall just sustained minor injuries. Before the crash, the driver went down to check on the bus, but the bus sped up really fast when he returned, she recalled.

“May inayos sila sa ilalim, then after that start na nila bus, yun na dirediretso na ang bus,” she recounted.

One passenger was shouting for help, she shared. In the middle of it, she prayed the "Our Father" as the bus appeared to have an issue.

CCTV footage from a nearby house captured the bus speeding in an area with signs that say ‘slow down, sharp curve ahead”. In another video, the bus appeared to have hit the concrete barrier.

Mica gained consciousness right after. She remembered praying the “Our Father” again while waiting for the rescue team. She was later saved and brought to the Angel Salazar Memorial Medical Center in San Jose de Buenavista.

She was told that the bus inspector reportedly braced her from the fall. The inspector was tragically killed in the incident.

"Hinug, protect niya ako so ayun, siya pala yung harapan ko pagising ko na," she said.

LAST STOPOVER

Around 20 minutes away from the crash site stands the Prince Homemade Delicacies shop in San Joaquin in Iloilo, the last stopover of the doomed bus.

The shop's cashier and owner Daiserei Joy Fortaleza considers the driver and the conductor her family because they frequent the shop.

For her, the day of the accident felt like an ordinary one, as she exchanged the usual pleasantries with the driver and conductor who also drank coffee and ate bread— in what she described as their last meal.

“Tinuturing ko talaga sila mga kapatid, driver at conductor. Halos araw araw ko sila makita dito, kahit paano may tulong rin sila sa amin.”

Tears then fell from Daiserei’s eyes as she said, “May their souls rest in peace na lang po. Di ko masabi nararamdaman ko, kasi kitang kita ko itsura nila mula umalis sila dito, kaya di ako makatulog.”

CCTV footage from her store showed that the bus stopped in front of the shop, with some passengers alighting and going to the bathroom and some buying pasalubong.

Footage also showed the driver and the conductor talking to Daiserei as they drank and ate.

Later on, the last frame of the footage presented the bus leaving the shop— the last time Daiserei saw her friends.

About 30 minutes later, she received a call that there was an accident.

She called for the rescue team which was among the first to arrive on the scene. And when she checked the CCTV footage of the last aircon bus to stop at the shop, it was the bus of her friends.

There are now fewer customers at her shop after Ceres buses were instructed not to pass through the road and take the coastal road instead.

A total of 18 people died in the tragedy; 6 are in critical condition in various hospitals in Iloilo, while 4 are in stable condition at the Angel Salazar Memorial General Hospital in San Jose de Buenavista.

Vallacar Transit, the operator of the Ceres bus, has disbursed the initial financial assistance to bereaved families.

The bus company has given at least P50,000 each to 14 families of those killed and P10,000 each to those confined at the Angel Salazar Memorial General Hospital (ASMGH). It is also coordinating with other kin.

Ceres vowed to help with other expenses such as funeral costs and logistics expenses, especially for the transfer of the bodies of some fatalities to South Cotabato, the provincial government said.

A help desk has been set up by Ceres at the ASMGH and at the Hamtic Police Station for families of victims seeking help.

LTFRB has suspended at least 13 units of Ceres pending investigation. Ceres has also instructed all its buses to pass through the coastal road, instead of the usual mountain route, where the tragedy occurred.

Antique Police Provincial Office Director PCOL Rogelio Abran Jr said they are investigating all angles as they also seek to get a copy of the dashcam video inside the bus.

“We have to secure the dashcam and doon we will see if what happened is the fault of the driver or it’s on the part of the engineering aspect of road,” said. Abran.

The provincial government meanwhile asserts that the supposed dashcam video circulating now online is not connected to the Antique incident.
“Panawagan namin, that is not the same bus, iba yun, wala pa dashcam from Ceres bus nahulog dito,” said Junlee Saylo, head of the Antique Provincial Information Office.

There are now proposals to fully close down the portion of the road dubbed as ‘killer curve” or “killer turn.” The local government is urging the DPWH to redesign the highway because of the many accidents in the area.

Some vehicles that fell off the ravine in the same area years ago are still in the pit, making it a graveyard of fallen vehicles.