Boy sues, seeks medicine money
By Cris Evert Lato
Cebu Daily News
First Posted 15:54:00 09/29/2008
CEBU CITY, Philippines - Only last month, nine-year-old Mark was like most children – full of life and able to run like the wind.
Today, he is a teary-eyed boy with an amputated leg wondering if someone can help him get crutches so he can get off his bed.
Mark (not his real name) lost his left leg when he was accidentally scooped up by a backhoe last Sept. 1 while he was scavenging garbage inside a private lot in barangay Tungkop, Minglanilla town, Cebu.
The boy was hospitalized on the same day and discharged on Sept. 17.
He is nowhere near full recovery, however, and is asking for financial support from those responsible for the incidnt.
“Nangaykay kog basura. Wala ko kabantay nga naapil na diay kog handos sa backhoe (I was sorting through garbage. I didn’t notice that I was being hauled by a backhoe),” he told Cebu Daily News.
Hospital bills and initial medications were paid by Paramount Property Ventures Inc. (PPVI), the developer of The Coral Bay Residences and Fonde di Versailles in Minglanilla town, a housing enclave still under development, where the boy was sorting through the garbage.
Mark and his mother, Belen, filed a criminal complaint with the Cebu Provincial Prosecutor’s Office against the backhoe driver, Gindo Rallos Sr., on Sept. 25 citing him for reckless imprudence resulting to serious physical injuries.
Lawyer Rene Abcede Jr., who is assisting Mark’s family, said his client’s family was given around P6,000 by PPVI.
The amount, however, was not enough since the boy needs to take post-operation medicines to ease pain and heal wounds, said Belen.
Abcede said the backhoe operator worked for the Mandaue branch of Monark (CAT) Inc., an authorized dealer of Caterpillar Heavy Equipment and Power Systems products in the Philippines.
The equipment was rented by Frasec Ventures Inc. to do pre-development works such as removing garbage from the site. According to the PPVI website, Frasec is a contractor and developer engaged in land development and vertical and horizontal construction. The website also said that PPVI is an “offspring” of several giant companies, one of which is Frasec.
In an official statement sent to yesterday, PPVI said the incident was unfortunate but noted that the boy was also trespassing on private property.
“Paramount Property Ventures Inc. regrets the incident yet it is a crime of trespassing on private property despite repeated warnings.”
“Paramount nonetheless has shouldered the (hospital) expenses as part of its corporate social responsibility and hopes that no such incident will happen again if the public can only respect the rights of private property owners, big or small,” it said.
A PPVI staffer, who requested not to be named for lack of authority to speak on the matter, told that it was not the first time Mark and companions went inside the property to collect garbage.
“There were repeatedly told not to go inside. We even have a security guard but they still managed to slip through. They even destroyed our fences made of galvanized-iron sheets,” said the staffer.
She said she was under the impression that negotiations with the family were already completed since the company paid the hospital bills.
A report from the Minglanilla Police Station said that it was PPVI field engineer Francis Aguirre who informed the police about the incident.
With two companions, a 12-year-old boy and Gerald Moyo, 20, Mark went inside Coral Bay to collect garbage at around 8:30 a.m. last Sept. 1.
The site was familiar to him since the place was known as a dumpsite before the subdivision project started, said Mark.
Mark said he and his companions saw the backhoe collecting garbage and unloading it onto a dumptruck when they entered the property.
“Nisulod ra pud mi unya nagpadayon og pangaykay kay mao man ni among panginabuhi (We went inside and continued collecting garbage because we earn a living out of this),” he said.
He said he was busy looking for other scrap materials and didn’t notice the backhoe heading toward his direction.
It was too late when he realized that he was being lifted up by the heavy equipment.
Mark said he called out for his grandmother when he saw his feet hanging and filled with blood. His companions called the attention of the driver, who allegedly wasn’t aware he had scooped up a child.
Mark was rushed to the nearby South General Hospital in Naga City for treatment then transferred to the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center in Cebu City where his badly damaged left leg was amputated.
While the family was grateful that PPVI helped them with the hospital bills, Belen said they still need support for other medicines Mark needs to take so he could completely heal.
Lawyer James Lobedica, legal officer of PPVI, said the company is no longer willing to give more aid because the backhoe driver is not their employee but is employed by Monark (CAT) Inc.
He said the boy’s family should ask for financial aid from Monark.
The boy’s grandmother, Clarita, stressed that the family was not using the incident to earn money.
“Daghan man gud kaayo paliton pa nga tambal. Mao ra man gyud na among hangyo nga tabangan mi sa gasto sa tambal karon nga naa diri sa balay si (Mark) (We still have to buy plenty of medicines. Our only request is that they help us with the medicines now that Marvin is here in the house),” the grandmother said.
His mother also said they still need assistance every time they bring Mark to Cebu City for a check-up.
Mark is the fifth among nine siblings. He was raised by his grandmother since he was one-year-old. His father, Felix, is a construction worker, while his mother is a housewife.
The boy, like his younger siblings, has never gone to school, said his grandmother. His older siblings only reached the elementary grades.
To help his 68-year-old grandmother, Mark worked as a garbage scavenger and water boy. The boy earns P15 to P80 a day, enough to buy subsidized government rice sold at P18.50 a kilo, his grandmother said.
After the incident, her plans to enroll Mark in Grade 1 next school year are uncertain, she said.
“Mao bitaw gikuha nako iyang birth certificate kay mag-andam na unta mi ipa-enroll siya sunod abli pero unsaon ta man, ingon ana naman ang nahitabo (That's why I prepared his birth certificate because we are getting ready to enroll him next school year. But what can we do? This incident has already happened),” she said.
With his left leg amputated and right leg supported by a steel brace, Mark said he is tired of being idle.
“Wala ko naanad sige og lingkod, higda tibuok adlaw. Ganahan na ko molakaw, motrabaho balik (I'm not used to sitting, lying down the entire day. I want to walk, work again),” said Mark.
“May unta naay maluoy unya tagaan ko og crutches (I hope somebody will take pity on me and give me crutches).” With a report from reporter Marian Z. Codilla
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