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.
