Duterte orders arrest of Dimple Star Transport operator

In this picture shared by Special Assistant to the President Bong Go, President Rodrigo Duterte is seen visiting the site where a Dimple Star Transport bus fell off a cliff, killing 19 people and injuring others, on Tuesday, March 20, 2018. He was assisted by a member of the Philippine National Police-Highway Patrol Group, Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board Martin Delgra, and Go. /Bong Go/

(Eagle News) — President Rodrigo Duterte on Friday ordered the arrest of the operator of Dimple Star Transport, days after one of its buses fell into a cliff in  Occidental Mindoro and left 19 dead.

“Pinahuli ni (Duterte ang) operator and pinahuli niya ang lahat ng colorum,” Special Assistant to the President Bong Go said.

Go made the announcement as Duterte made an unannounced visit to the site of the incident on Tuesday.

A picture shared by Go showed the President in the area with a member of the Philippine National Police-Highway Patrol Group, Go and Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board chief Martin Delgra.

Duterte also visited the wake of some of those who died, and those who were undergoing treatment in the hospital.

 

Over twenty were also injured in the incident that prompted Senator Grace Poe, chair of the Senate committee on public services, to renew calls for the creation of a national transport safety board.