BACOLOD CITY – The management of Vallacar Transit Inc. (VTI) has decided to voluntarily suspend all operations of 12 remaining units pending the investigation on a Ceres Liner Bus involved in an accident in Hamtic, Antique that killed more than 10 people on Tuesday, December 5.

These remaining units are under the franchise involving Case No. 11-VI-021-AK.

In a press statement released on Wednesday, December 6, the bus firm said it immediately reported the incident to the Land Transportation and Franchising Regulatory Board (LTFRB) and is willing to cooperate with any investigation they will conduct.

The bus firm expressed its most heartfelt apologies for those who were involved in the incident.

“We would also like to send our sincerest condolences to the bereaved families,” VTI said.

VTI said there were 12 confirmed casualties at the moment, nine of which are passengers, and the remaining three are the bus driver, conductor, and line inspector.

According to VTI, a Ceres Bus No. 6289 was carrying 24 passengers on its way to Culasi from Iloilo when it accidentally fell off a ravine at Kilometer 174, Igbucay, Hamtic, Antique around 4:30 p.m.

The area is known to be accident-prone, with numerous vehicles falling off therein, the bus firm said.

Branch, admin, and maintenance managers, operations personnel, liaison officers, and nurses from the West and East branches were immediately dispatched to the location of the incident to assist the victims, the VTI said.

VTI assured financial assistance to the victims and their families as well as shouldering the fatalities’ medical and burial expenses.

Management has assigned personnel on standby at the hospital for further updates and assistance.

“Rest assured that we are doing everything that we can to make sure that this is being handled properly and carefully,” VTI said.

Management guarantees the riding public that we are taking all the appropriate steps to ensure that our buses are road-worthy and well-maintained, VTI said.