CAMP DANGWA,Benguet – A husband and his wife were on their way to the school where they were teaching when the motorcycle they were riding accidentally collided with a 10-wheer dump truck along the national highway of Barangay Mataguisi, Pudtol, Apayao, on Friday, October 30.
April Mark Abad Ventura, 30, and his wife Jaysa Agustin Ventura, 28, residents of Barangay Dagupan, Luna, Apayao, were killed, according to Police Regional Office (PRO) Cordillera Information Officer Maj. Carol Lacuata.
The Venturas were teachers at the Mataguisi Comprehensive National High School (MCNHS) in Pudtol town.
Investigation by the Pudtol Municipal Police Station (MPS) showed that the couple was only a few meters from MCNHS when they had to negotiate a sharp curve on the national highway. But they did not see the dump truck travelling from the opposite direction, and collided with it.
The motorcycle was no match for the 10-wheeler truck as the seriously injured couple was rushed by a responding citizen to the Amma Jadsac District Hospital, Pudtol Apayao for immediate medical treatment.
The driver of the dump truck Reynal Aquino Maruquin, 39, voluntarily surrendered to the Pudtol MPS after the accident.
Lacuata said, at around 1:30 p.m., Friday, the Pudtol MPS received a call from Dr. Robby Mark Ogalino of Amma Jadsac District Hospital, informing them that April Mark died while he was being taken to the Cagayan Valley Medical Center (CVMC) in Tuguegarao City, Cagayan.
Then about 25 minutes, another call came from Atty. Marveluna Paraῆal, a cousin of Jaysa, who informed the police that she had also perished at the CVMC.