Four teenagers were killed in a car accident inside the posh Ayala Alabang Village at around 4 o' clock on Saturday morning.
The casualties, identified as Thomas Eric Nguyen, 16; Joshua Syyap, 14; Timothy Syyap, 18; and Bruce Garcia, 14; were reportedly on their way home from a party at a famous club in Makati when one of the teenagers driving the vehicle lost control and hit an electric post at the corner of Acacia avenue and Guijo street.
The impact of the crash nearly sliced the vehicle (a black Hyundai Elantra with license plate number TOQ 397) in half and threw the four occupants out of the car, where three died on the spot. One died hours later at the Asian Hospital due to severe head and body injuries.
While there were no witnesses at the scene, police investigators are now reviewing CCTV footage from cameras at the area. Officials of the Ayala Alabang Homeowners' Association have said that they will be cooperating during on-going investigations.
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Four teenagers from an exclusive subdivision on their way home in a car at 4am on a Saturday--it definitely seems like these boys just came home from a party, doesn't it? I highly doubt these guys were on their way home from a group study session--I mean, the accident happened on a weekend, and during summer vacation, too.
Though it is not exactly clear where these teens were coming from, one can somehow make a conclusion that they had been drinking at a party somewhere (some reports claim that they were on their way home from Makati). It seems like the driver had a bit too much to drink, but he was still somehow able to keep control of the car during the drive from Makati to Alabang, until his body couldn't take it anymore and gave way just as they were finally close to home. At least that's the way how I see it.
It's sad how it had to come to this--in an instant, the parents of the casualties lost their children who, given their social status and background, had a bright future ahead of them. It was certainly much more painful for the parents of two of the victims, who were siblings.
These boys are just additions to the long list of casualties from accidents caused by drunk driving. Accidents due to drunk driving is one of the leading causes of death in the country. However, these accidents could have been avoided, and these tragic deaths would never had happened. If only these teenagers (especially the driver) knew of the dangers of driving while drunk. If only the parents would have taken proper action to prevent this from happening, knowing that their sons were headed to a club. If only our officials would impose stricter rules against driving under the influence and had more severe punishments for those caught doing so. If only the management of that club in Makati knew better than to let minors into their establishment. If only the driver had observed the proper speed limit inside Ayala Alabang Village. If only. If only.
That's all we could do as of the moment--look into the "what could have been" situations, as the families of these victims grieve over the loss of their beloved. Even the simplest of acts could have been done to prevent all this accident.
As I have said in an earlier blog entry, disasters such as the sinking of the Titanic could have been avoided if proper measures were taken to prevent these incidents from happening. Must we really wait for these tragedies such as this horrific car crash to happen before we take proper measures? I do believe that is time we make the shift from being a reactive society to being a proactive society. We cannot just act on something when something terrible has already happened. We must act in order to prevent something terrible from happening. Have we not learned our lesson yet? How many more people (it could be anyone--it could even be our own family members) must die before we realize that enough is enough? We cannot just simply waste more time. We need to act now.
Unfortunately, though, the people who are supposed to take the lead are just too busy dwelling on far less important matters (see this and this and this) to even take notice on what is more important. And with the 2013 elections coming up, expect more of them to be more concerned about maintaining their positions rather than looking into the welfare of the people. Stricter laws? Improvements in infrastructure? Disaster preparedness? Yeah, right. As if they would even care.
Since we can pretty much conclude that we just cannot depend on our officials to resolve these things as of the moment, it all comes down to us, the ordinary citizens--it is up to us to take proper action. It is up to us to be more responsible in keeping this country a better and safer place for us to live in. It is up to us to ensure that future generations are guaranteed of a better life, courtesy of those who had lived before them who have cooperated and worked hard to make things the way they are. Now would be a good time to start--even the simplest of actions would come a long way.
Rest in peace, Thomas Eric Nguyen, Joshua and Timothy Syyap, and Bruce Garcia.
The impact of the crash nearly sliced the vehicle (a black Hyundai Elantra with license plate number TOQ 397) in half and threw the four occupants out of the car, where three died on the spot. One died hours later at the Asian Hospital due to severe head and body injuries.
While there were no witnesses at the scene, police investigators are now reviewing CCTV footage from cameras at the area. Officials of the Ayala Alabang Homeowners' Association have said that they will be cooperating during on-going investigations.
======================================================
Four teenagers from an exclusive subdivision on their way home in a car at 4am on a Saturday--it definitely seems like these boys just came home from a party, doesn't it? I highly doubt these guys were on their way home from a group study session--I mean, the accident happened on a weekend, and during summer vacation, too.
Though it is not exactly clear where these teens were coming from, one can somehow make a conclusion that they had been drinking at a party somewhere (some reports claim that they were on their way home from Makati). It seems like the driver had a bit too much to drink, but he was still somehow able to keep control of the car during the drive from Makati to Alabang, until his body couldn't take it anymore and gave way just as they were finally close to home. At least that's the way how I see it.
It's sad how it had to come to this--in an instant, the parents of the casualties lost their children who, given their social status and background, had a bright future ahead of them. It was certainly much more painful for the parents of two of the victims, who were siblings.
These boys are just additions to the long list of casualties from accidents caused by drunk driving. Accidents due to drunk driving is one of the leading causes of death in the country. However, these accidents could have been avoided, and these tragic deaths would never had happened. If only these teenagers (especially the driver) knew of the dangers of driving while drunk. If only the parents would have taken proper action to prevent this from happening, knowing that their sons were headed to a club. If only our officials would impose stricter rules against driving under the influence and had more severe punishments for those caught doing so. If only the management of that club in Makati knew better than to let minors into their establishment. If only the driver had observed the proper speed limit inside Ayala Alabang Village. If only. If only.
That's all we could do as of the moment--look into the "what could have been" situations, as the families of these victims grieve over the loss of their beloved. Even the simplest of acts could have been done to prevent all this accident.
As I have said in an earlier blog entry, disasters such as the sinking of the Titanic could have been avoided if proper measures were taken to prevent these incidents from happening. Must we really wait for these tragedies such as this horrific car crash to happen before we take proper measures? I do believe that is time we make the shift from being a reactive society to being a proactive society. We cannot just act on something when something terrible has already happened. We must act in order to prevent something terrible from happening. Have we not learned our lesson yet? How many more people (it could be anyone--it could even be our own family members) must die before we realize that enough is enough? We cannot just simply waste more time. We need to act now.
Unfortunately, though, the people who are supposed to take the lead are just too busy dwelling on far less important matters (see this and this and this) to even take notice on what is more important. And with the 2013 elections coming up, expect more of them to be more concerned about maintaining their positions rather than looking into the welfare of the people. Stricter laws? Improvements in infrastructure? Disaster preparedness? Yeah, right. As if they would even care.
Since we can pretty much conclude that we just cannot depend on our officials to resolve these things as of the moment, it all comes down to us, the ordinary citizens--it is up to us to take proper action. It is up to us to be more responsible in keeping this country a better and safer place for us to live in. It is up to us to ensure that future generations are guaranteed of a better life, courtesy of those who had lived before them who have cooperated and worked hard to make things the way they are. Now would be a good time to start--even the simplest of actions would come a long way.
Rest in peace, Thomas Eric Nguyen, Joshua and Timothy Syyap, and Bruce Garcia.
I must comment on this. These teens are the kids of friends of friends and family I have, but I don't know them. However, when this story broke, I wondered why it happened. While we don't know the "official" causes of the accident, it is clear that these children were speeding and things could have turned out a lot worse -- they could have hurt someone else.... That is what happens when you drive recklessly. It may not be the right time to talk about that now as the family is grieving, but at some point it should be discussed. As a parent, I always think about why these things happen -- and if these things can be avoided. In this case, YES, it could have very well been avoided.
ReplyDeleteI also have no doubt that this is a case of drunk driving. Tim Syyap (the oldest child whom I would suspect is the driver) has a twitter account which I checked right after I heard the news. His last account was this (pardon the language, but this is what these kids write in their accounts): "drunk as fuck". This was his final utterance and it was written at around 3 AM of the night of the accident. If you check the account today, that entry has been removed (someone seems to have tampered with the account). Anyway, the truth will be known soon enough if autopsies and tests are performed.
I don't come to judge but to advocate for more education and enlightenment on the matter of underage drunk and reckless driving. Too many young people perish this way. It is a known fact that young drivers are the riskiest drivers around (just check with your insurance company).
My prayers are with the family during this very very difficult time.
Having a car at that age can be such a temptation. As a teen myself, nothing feels better than driving yourself to different places. However, this comes with a responsibility. It was just a few months of driving that I met my first accident--I was not able to hit the brakes on time and hit the car in front of me. Luckily I was not hurt, but since that incident I have been very cautious when it comes to driving. It's unfortunate that this accident resulted in the deaths of these four boys. Should they have survived this accident, I'm sure this would serve as a lesson for them and they would be careful from now on. However, this was not the case. I just hope this would serve as a lesson for other teens who could suffer the same fate.
Deletethe driver was nguyen. not syapp. just to make it clear.
ReplyDeleteHello! thanks for the clarification.
DeleteNguyen was the driver based on the following article: http://www.philstar.com/nation/article.aspx?publicationSubCategoryId=65&articleId=809716
ReplyDeleteHello! Thanks for the clarification.
DeleteThey are not supposed to be drinking / driving at their age. Sa adults nga may last call before 2am, sa abroad ito, how can they be allowed to go inside the club and drink? Oh Well.. RIP.
ReplyDeleteThey didn't come from makati. I was the second last person they saw.
ReplyDeleteTeenagers are the highly victims of car accidents. This is because they are less responsible when it comes to drinking alcohol while driving than the adult one. For parents educate our children when it comes to driving especially if they are in the influence of alcohol. For legal advice about this contact DUI lawyers.
ReplyDeleteJoseph @ drink driving penalties
Truth be told, wala ako simpatiya sa mga batang ito. Ito ang bunga ng pagkulang sa responsibilidad at tamang pagdesisyon. Tsaka apat na bata, nagmamaneho tapos iinom? Simple lang yan, yabang at pagpapasikat. Cool daw sila pag nagmamaneho, kahit wala silang lisensya at wala sa tamang edad.Pagpapacool yan. 18 yrs old ako, mahilig din gumimik at uminom, at magpakawalwal AKA "drunk as fuck". Pero hindi ako nagdadala ng auto pag umiinom sa labas, kahit malapit lang sa amin yung bar. Walang tao na nag iisip ng tama ang may bayag na uminom at magmaneho pauwi, mas lalo na kapag galing sa malayo. Yan ang napapala ng pagpapacool at pagkulang sa tamang pagdesisyon at responsibilidad. Buti nga.
ReplyDeletethis reply is very harsh. How can you say "buti nga" in situations where parents are mourning and grieving from this painful loss? I pray for you and I hope this never happens to your family.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteI knew these people personally, talked to them, kind of hanged out with them, and I have seen them smoke marijuana in that same car. As much as it pains me to blame the parents over this, they really are. I often see them stay in the streets late in the evening, sometimes smoking weed.
ReplyDeleteThe point of me revealing these is to show that the parents were too lenient. They were given too much freedom, the kids abused it, and I saw that. I'm just thankful that I have closer friends who were not, but could have been, in that car.
It's saddening to see that the parents are ignoring the fact that these kids were not raised well. And yes, one did tweet "drunk as fuck" less than an hour before their deaths. I heard they were speeding at 120kph.
I first heard this when my sister mentioned it. Hours later, in my Twitter, I was shocked to discover it was 4 people I knew of. Rest in peace guys.
They smoked alot of weed and just to add, they were high af when they went home. Thomas especially was super high...they were making pacool and cussing alot in the club. I know because i smoked with them before they left makati...
DeleteHello Anonymous, You don't have to reveal that they were smoking marijuna because they had stopped smoking months before the accident happened. This coming from someone who knew these boys since childhood, and i grew up with these boys until the accident happened.
ReplyDeleteRegarding the parents, i suggest you don't speak of them that way. They have raised their kids so well, and accidents happen. Wrong choice, wrong time. But do not ever post anything person about people you don't know by heart.
Hello, you are right, I had no right to reveal such scandalous matter, anonymity really brings the worst of us. And also, I do realize that they were kind persons. Overall, I regret speaking up like that.
ReplyDeleteHey, This is a great article shared by you. It's very informative and knowledgeable. Thanks for sharing this with us this article most informative part is Drunk Driving Accidents Though it is not exactly clear where these teens were coming from, one can somehow make a conclusion that they had been drinking at a party somewhere (some reports claim that they were on their way home from Makati). It seems like the driver had a bit too much to drink, but he was still somehow able to keep control of the car during the drive from Makati to Alabang, until his body couldn't take it anymore and gave way just as they were finally close to home. At least that's the way how I see it.
ReplyDelete