There was an accident when we were going home from Nabunturan. It was along a curve near Mawab. A motorcycle with two passengers, a man and a woman, collided head on with a van. We happened to pass by just moments after the accident happened.
Papa stopped the car while Mama, being the Red Cross volunteer that she was, inspected the victims. My cousin, who was a policeman and who was with us then, began contacting his colleagues in Nabunturan to report the situation. My sister got hold of the victim's cellphone and began contacting some numbers in the phone book, informing the mother and a sister about what transpired.
Why am I writing about this? Well, that's because I want to talk about the typical Pinoy response to this kind of "spectacle".
Soon after, a traffic jam ensued. The van, the victims, and the twisted motorcycle were left untouched. But a crowd began forming a circle around the two victims and the main issue soon revolved around how to control the crowd.
Most of these people were simply curious, like wide-eyed children on their way to their first trip to the circus (Some disgusted me, like that one fellow who bellowed to his companions, "Bay, naay bangga bai!", with a grin plastered across his face).
Some had good intentions which, unfortunately, were matched with equally idiotic reactions. There was a man, according to my mother, who proposed that they lift the woman by the arms and legs and carry her off to a car bound for the hospital in Tagum. Thank goodness, Mama was there to stop him. Otherwise, such a haphazard way of transferring the victim would have aggravated the woman's injuries.
Another scene involved a tactless woman who approached Mama and exclaimed, "Ay, patay naman tong lalake." At the mention of this, the woman-victim's eyes grew big and Mama had to comfort her again, saying her husband was being treated and there was no need to panic (The husband died anyway but at the hospital, not on the scene).
Papa kept a straight face throughout the episode but it was clear he was affected when he started shouting at us to climb aboard the car when the medical van and the police finally arrived.
I, for one, was the diligent spectator. Knowing there was nothing I could do, I looked on at a distance, observing the flurry of movement.
The driver of the van was nowhere to be found.
And that sums up a story.
Papa stopped the car while Mama, being the Red Cross volunteer that she was, inspected the victims. My cousin, who was a policeman and who was with us then, began contacting his colleagues in Nabunturan to report the situation. My sister got hold of the victim's cellphone and began contacting some numbers in the phone book, informing the mother and a sister about what transpired.
Why am I writing about this? Well, that's because I want to talk about the typical Pinoy response to this kind of "spectacle".
Soon after, a traffic jam ensued. The van, the victims, and the twisted motorcycle were left untouched. But a crowd began forming a circle around the two victims and the main issue soon revolved around how to control the crowd.
Most of these people were simply curious, like wide-eyed children on their way to their first trip to the circus (Some disgusted me, like that one fellow who bellowed to his companions, "Bay, naay bangga bai!", with a grin plastered across his face).
Some had good intentions which, unfortunately, were matched with equally idiotic reactions. There was a man, according to my mother, who proposed that they lift the woman by the arms and legs and carry her off to a car bound for the hospital in Tagum. Thank goodness, Mama was there to stop him. Otherwise, such a haphazard way of transferring the victim would have aggravated the woman's injuries.
Another scene involved a tactless woman who approached Mama and exclaimed, "Ay, patay naman tong lalake." At the mention of this, the woman-victim's eyes grew big and Mama had to comfort her again, saying her husband was being treated and there was no need to panic (The husband died anyway but at the hospital, not on the scene).
Papa kept a straight face throughout the episode but it was clear he was affected when he started shouting at us to climb aboard the car when the medical van and the police finally arrived.
I, for one, was the diligent spectator. Knowing there was nothing I could do, I looked on at a distance, observing the flurry of movement.
The driver of the van was nowhere to be found.
And that sums up a story.
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