(Photo: Department of Transportation)

The family of a Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) officer who was killed in a multi-vehicle accident on the Subic–Clark–Tarlac Expressway (SCTEX) two weeks ago disclosed that the bus driver responsible for the incident has been released from detention after posting bail.

Teodoro Merjan, driver of a bus operated by Pangasinan Solid North Transit Inc. that rammed four vehicles at the second lane of SCTEX’s exit toll plaza on May 1, walked out of jail two days later after posting a P60,000 bail, according to the family of PCG Seawoman 1 Dain Janica Alinas and her husband, Jon-jon.

The crash, apparently occurring when the driver fell asleep, killed 10 individuals including the Alinas couple.

In a phone interview with the Manila Bulletin on Friday, May 16, a female relative of the Alinas couple who requested anonymity said that their family is puzzled as to why the bail for the bus driver was only set at P60,000.

She explained that she was scrolling through her Facebook account when she saw a news report that the SUV driver in another accident at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) that killed two last May 4 was released on a P100,000 bail.

“’Di ba po dalawa ‘yung naging victims doon [at NAIA crash] tapos ang naging bail is P100,000. So nagtataka po kami, ‘yung family namin bakit itong sampu ang napatay sa bus driver pero P60,000 lang ang bail na binigay ng court? (There were two victims [at NAIA crash] and the bail was set at P100,000. So our family is puzzled why the court set the bail for this bus driver who killed 10 persons at P60,000 only),” the relative said.

Accordingly, the bus driver underwent inquest proceedings at the Municipal Trial Court in Cities (MTCC) in Tarlac on May 2. The following day, the court allowed Merjan to post bail for his charges which included reckless imprudence resulting in multiple homicide, multiple physical injuries, and damage to property among others.

“Noong nagkita po kami sa court ni minsan hindi rin po nanghingi ng pasensya ‘yung driver. Walang remorse (When we saw each other in court, the driver did not say sorry to us. He has no remorse),” the relative said. "We are also confused bakit sa lower court nakafile at hindi sa RTC (why the case was filed at the lower court and not at the Regional Trial Court)."

The family of Alinas said they felt that the whole situation was “unfair”.

“Bakit ganoon, parang ang unfair ng labas. Ang bilis lang naprocess sa kanya (Why did this happen? It felt unfair. He was quickly processed),” the relative said.

“‘Yung P60,000 for me is parang madali lang para sa driver iproduce eh. Pero ‘yung sampung buhay na nawala niya ay ganun na lang kabilis ‘yun. P60,000 lang ‘yun tapos makakalaya na siya (The P60,000 for bail for me, it’s easy for the driver to produce. But the 10 lives were lost in an instant. It’s just P60,000 and he was freed),” she added.

The family of the Alinas couple called on President Marcos Jr., the national government, and the PCG to help them attain justice “as soon as possible” and to assist all the families of the SCTEX crash.

“Ngayon pa lang po nagsisink in sa amin ‘yung lahat habang pinaprocess namin ‘yung mga papel eh. Ngayon lang kami humaharap sa reality na wala na talaga sila and naging victim sila ng ganoong aksidente (It’s only now that the situation has sunk in while we are processing the papers. It’s only now that we are facing the reality that [Dain and Jon-jon] are really gone and they became victims of an accident like that),” the relative said.

Meanwhile, the family requested privacy as to the status of the Alinas couple’s two-year-old child who survived the accident.