A show cause order was issued by the Land Transportation Office (LTO) against the driver and the owner of the passenger bus that rammed several motorcycles and a van and resulted in the death of at least three people and the injury of more than 11 other riders and passengers.
In a statement released on Tuesday, April 30, LTO Chief Assistant Secretary Vigor D. Mendoza II, the chief of the LTO the show-cause order (SCO) served as a notification to both the driver and owner of the passenger bus, informing them that the bus driver's license had been preemptively suspended for 90 days.
As such, he said the Nissan bus with plate number TXY 610 was flagged and placed under alarm.
“We are already conducting a thorough investigation into the matter and part of this investigation is the summon sent to the driver and registered owner of the passenger bus to appear before the probe team of the LTO,” the LTO chief said.
According to Mendoza, the cases filed by the police are separate from the charges that would be prepared by the LTO based on the result of their probe.
Per the SCO, the driver and the registered owner of the bus are facing various administrative cases that include reckless driving, operating a motor vehicle with defective equipment, and improper person to operate a vehicle.
The LTO has directed both the driver and registered owner to appear before the LTO-NCR office on May 9 with their written and notarized explanation of the incident.
“Failure to appear and submit the notarized affidavits at the above-stated time, day, and place shall be construed as a waiver to be heard and controvert the allegations against you, leaving this Office to resolve the case administratively based on the available records,” the SCO read.
Based on their initial investigation, the passenger bus was travelling southbound on Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City on Monday, April 29, when the vehicle suffered loss of brakes.
“As a result, it rammed the motorcycles and at least two motor vehicles, a sedan and a van, which inflicted serious injuries on the drivers and passengers,” the LTO said.
The agency said three individuals succumbed to the incident, comprising one motorcycle rider and two van passengers.