Two Killed, Five Injured in Cotabato Highway Collision Involving Tricycle and Cargo Truck
Key Takeaways
- •A tricycle driver and one passenger died when their vehicle was struck head-on by a cargo truck along a dark highway section in Barangay New Rizal, Mlang, Cotabato province.
- •Five injured passengers, including three minors identified only by first names, are receiving medical treatment at Mlang Medical Specialist Center.
- •The truck driver voluntarily surrendered to police and barangay officials at the scene and turned over his driver's license.
- •Authorities identified the lack of street lighting on that stretch of highway as a factor in the collision.
- •The incident highlights ongoing safety concerns in rural Cotabato where small transport vehicles and large commercial trucks frequently share unlit roads.
COTABATO CITY — A tricycle driver and one of his passengers were killed, while five others sustained serious injuries, after a 10-wheeler cargo truck collided with their vehicle along an unlit stretch of highway in Barangay New Rizal, Mlang, Cotabato province, on Saturday night.
Officials at the Mlang Municipal Police Station confirmed on Sunday that the fatalities were tricycle driver Jovito D. Autillo, Sr. and his passenger, Yolanda P. Cordero.
Five other passengers aboard the tricycle — identified as Cecil S. Autillo, Felinor L. Sigura, and three minors known only by the names Joy, Clint, and Mary — suffered serious injuries. They are currently confined at the Mlang Medical Specialist Center for treatment. Local executives and police investigators disclosed the identities of the minors only by their first names.
Lieutenant Colonel Realan E. Mamon, the Mlang municipal police chief, stated on Sunday that the victims were traveling in Mr. Autillo's tricycle when it was struck head-on by a 10-wheeler cargo truck traveling from the opposite direction of the highway.
The truck driver, Edmund P. Norberte, a resident of Barangay San Emmanuel in Tacurong City, voluntarily surrendered to responding police officers and barangay officials at the scene and handed over his driver's license.
According to Lt. Col. Mamon and local officials, Norberte was driving the truck toward Davao City when the collision occurred along a darkened portion of the highway passing through Purok Acacia in Barangay New Rizal. The lack of street lighting at that stretch of road was noted as a factor in the area where the accident took place.
The incident occurred in Cotabato province, which is situated on the island of Mindanao in the southern Philippines. A barangay is the smallest administrative unit of local government in the Philippines. Highway safety has been a recurring concern in rural areas of the province, where unlit road segments and mixed traffic involving motorcycles, tricycles — motorcycle-and-sidecar vehicles widely used for short-distance public transport — and large commercial vehicles are common. The disparity in size and weight between tricycles and 10-wheeler cargo trucks often results in severe or fatal outcomes for occupants of the smaller vehicle in head-on collisions.
— John Felix M. Unson
