Wife files complaint against PUJ driver over hubby’s death

Catherine Chan and her husband Elbert had planned to raise a child after a year of marriage.

The couple’s dream was crushed after Elbert, 33, died in a vehicular accident on BB Cabahug St. in Barangay Guizo, Mandaue City on Thursday morning, March 7.

Elbert, a civil engineer for a construction company in LapuLapu City, was walking along the sidewalk when the public utility jeepney (PUJ) driven by Renato Llanos, 58, hit him.

Llanos told Superbalita Cebu that he failed to control his PUJ when the brakes malfunctioned.

A complaint of reckless imprudence resulting in homicide was filed by Catherine against Llanos before the city prosecutor’s office on Friday afternoon, March 8.

Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) 7 technical development officer Eugenio Ibo Jr. said the legal department will conduct an investigation on the incident, and it can either suspend or revoke the PUJ operator’s franchise.

The operator, however, promised to shoulder the burial expenses for Chan. He also paid the hospital bills of the two injured passengers.

Catherine said her husband’s sudden death was painful as they were still a young couple. She had quit her job in Singapore after their wedding.

Before the accident, Elbert had left his home in Barangay Talamban, Cebu City so he would not go in late for work.

Catherine said she always went out of the house with Elbert in the past, but she failed to accompany him before the accident as she woke up late.

She further said they often waited for a ride in the same spot where Elbert met the accident.

For his part, Llanos said he could not believe that the accident happened after his three decades of driving.

“I am asking forgiveness from the family; it was not my intention to hit him. I saw him and I pressed the vehicle’s horn to warn him, but I failed to control the vehicle,” he said in Cebuano.

He tried to crash his PUJ into a post, but he failed. Llanos claimed the vehicle’s condition was good before he started fetching passengers. /