The woman who was hit by a car while she was crossing a street in Bonifacio Global City in Taguig on Nov. 6 will be filing a criminal case against the driver.
Nicole Cruz (Nicole Mercado on Facebook) and her father, Rorilito, appeared on the radio and YouTube show “Wanted sa Radyo” hosted by Senator Raffy Tulfo on Nov. 8 where she narrated what happened.
Tulfo said he will be helping Cruz file a case against Marlon Entienza, who works as a driver under manpower outsourcing firm A.R.M. Resources.
The accident was captured in a video uploaded by JoyRide rider KupsyMoto on Facebook that has gone viral.
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Nicole Cruz after she was hit by a vehicle in BGC, Taguig on Nov. 6 (Screenshot from KupsyMoto video on Facebook)
Nicole Cruz (left), aka Nicole Mercado on Facebook, and driver Marlon Entienza on “Wanted sa Radyo” hosted by Senator Raffy Tulfo (Screenshot from "Wanted sa Radyo" video on YouTube)
Senator Raffy Tulfo, host of "Wanted sa Radyo," interviewing the victim, Nicole Cruz (left), aka Nicole Mercado on Facebook, and driver Marlon Entienza (Screenshot from "Wanted sa Radyo" video on YouTube)
The vehicle, a Fortuner, is registered under a machinery and equipment company, according to the show.
Cruz was walking along a pedestrian lane at the intersection of 5h Avenue and Rizal Drive in BGC when a black SUV, driven by Entienza, turned left and hit her.
The Taguig Police told the show that the driver can be charged with “reckless imprudence resulting in physical injury.”
Cruz said she is still in pain and has wounds, and cannot sleep properly. She said when she was hit by the car, the vehicle stopped and the driver alighted.
She said someone called a BGC marshal, who called a medic. She was given first aid.
:”Ang nangyari po, inantay po muna dumating yung may-ari ng Fortuner, yung may-ari po talaga para po i-retrieve yung sasakyan bago po kami naka-go para po isama po sa amin sa ambulansiya yung driver po nakasagasa (What happened was, we waited for the owner of the Fortuner to arrive, the real owner, to retriever the vehicle before we were able to go and for the driver to go with us in the ambulance),” Cruz told Tulfo.
She said the owner of the vehicle took the Fortuner. But Tulfo said the vehicle should have been impounded by authorities as it will be used as evidence in the case.
Screenshots of a video showing an SUV hitting Nicole Cruz in BGC, Taguig on Nov. 6 (Screenshots from KupsyMoto video on Facebook)
In a Facebook post, Cruz (aka Nicole Mercado) wrote that she didn’t know that a document she signed was already a settlement.
“Ibinalita na nagpa-areglo daw ako. Hindi ko naman gusto magpa-areglo talaga sadyang hindi ko na lang alam kung ano pinapasulat nila sa akin sa traffic bureau dahil wala na ako sa sarili (It was reported in the news that I settled. I really didn’t want to settle, it’s just that I didn’t know what the traffic bureau asked me to write because I wasn’t myself at that time),” she wrote.
On the show, she said that after getting treated at a hospital, she went to the Taguig traffic bureau to file a report.
“Initially po akala ko po yun, compensation po, initial compensation, dun sa nangyari sa akin, na kung gugustuhin ko pong magkaso after ilang araw po, maaari ko pa pong gawin yun. Sinabi po sa traffic bureau …yun na daw po yung areglo po (Initially, I thought it was compensation, initial compensation for what happened to me, that if I wanted to file a case after a few days, I can still do it. What was said at the traffic bureau…that it was already the settlement),” she said.
Cruz said she was made to write the things she wanted the driver to shoulder on a bond paper. She wrote her medical expenses among others.
Tulfo said what should have been done at the Taguig Police station was to impound the vehicle and file a complaint against the driver.
“Yung kaso (The case) should have been filed,” the senator said.
Entienza was interviewed on the show and admitted beating the red light and decided to turn left.
“Nung inabot na po ako sa gitna ng intersection e kumaliwa po ako nun,” he said, adding that he accompanied the victim at the hospital and Taguig Police station.
He added, “Yun po, nag-usap po kami dun na para makipagkasundo po dun sa nangyari na insidente. Hindi naman po talaga kagustuhan yung nangyari. Pumayag naman po sila sa sinabi ko.”
Investigator Luthgarda Osea of the Taguig Police said when Entienza was looking for his driver’s license at the police station, it turned out that the license was with a BGC marshal and was not turned over to them.
Osea denied facilitating the settlement between the victim and the driver, saying that the two parties voluntarily agreed on the settlement.
When pressed by Tulfo, Osea admitted that she was the one who gave Cruz a bond paper on which she wrote the things she wanted the driver to shoulder.
But she said the two parties already had a “prearrangement” or agreement before going to the police station.
Osea said she properly documented the incident and told Cruz’s father that the driver can be charged with “reckless imprudence resulting in physical injury.”
She said she asked the parties to fill out an affidavit of undertaking and told them that in case a problem arises from their compromise agreement, Cruz can go back to her to file the case.
But Tulfo told Osea that day was not the right time for the parties, especially the victim, to have an agreement as she was still traumatized by the accident.
Newly installed Taguig Police chief Col. Joey Goforth said because of the incident, he implemented a policy that the police “will no longer entertain yung pag-uusap ng both parties.”