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PWD mauled by fellow bus passengers on EDSA

The Department of Transportation (DOTr) has expressed concern after a 25-year-old person with disability (PWD) was ganged up on and allegedly tased by his fellow passengers inside a bus. According to Joseph Morong's report in '24 Oras' on Friday, the PWD reportedly bit passengers inside a Precious Grace Transport bus on EDSA Bus Carousel on June 9. 'Binugbog, kinuyog, yung isang kababayan natin na may kapansanan sa loob ng isang bus, krimen 'yan,' said DOTr Secretary Vince Dizon in a press briefing. (A fellow Filipino with a disability was mauled inside a bus. That's a crime.) 'This is very personal to me. Why? I have a younger brother, my youngest brother has autism. 'It's not easy to understand, hindi madaling intindihin itong kondisyon na 'to (it's not easy to understand this condition),' he added. 'Reactions are triggered by loud noises, by light, by other triggers, pero dapat naiintindihan ito ng mga kababayan natin (but our countrymen should understand this).' In the viral video, the PWD can be heard crying for help after some passengers tried to kick him out of the bus. The DOTr is also investigating whether a taser gun was used on the victim after a sound of an electric shock was heard in the video. Further, the department said that the bus driver and the conductor should be held responsible for the situation. Meanwhile, the Land Transportation Office (LTO) suspended their driver's license for 90 days. The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board summoned Precious Grace to explain and suspended ten of its units for a month. A hearing on the matter has been set for June 25. However, the bus company's lawyer said that the driver and the conductor took action on the incident. According to the testimony submitted by the driver to the LTO, a passenger reported to him that another passenger was biting people inside the bus. When they reached the Main Avenue station, they immediately reported the incident to the authorities. They sought the assistance of Coast Guard personnel to bring out the PWD passenger. But the authorities failed to do so. The PWD bit another person after the bus was already close to Buendia station, and the incident was reported to the authorities. The driver said that he even told the passengers to stop ganging up on the PWD, but nobody listened to him. 'To my mind, yung driver at saka konduktor, ginawa nila ang responsibilidad nila,' said Alex Verzosa, lawyer for Precious Grace Transport. (To my mind, the driver and conductor fulfilled their responsibilities.) —Vince Angelo Ferreras/VBL, GMA Integrated News