QC court convicts bus drivers over death of journalist Chit Estella

MANILA, Philippines — A Quezon City court has sentenced two bus drivers to two years in prison over a road crash that claimed the life of veteran journalist Chit Estella in 2011 — a decision that ends over a decade of waiting for justice for her family and colleagues.

Judge Ralph Lee of the Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 83 found Daniel Espinosa and Victor Ancheta guilty beyond reasonable doubt of reckless imprudence resulting in damage to property with homicide, according to a nine-page decision dated April 22.

Noting the drivers' poor financial standing, the court ordered the registered owners of the Universal Guiding Star Bus Line Corp. and Nova Auto Transport Bus Corporation to pay over P7.46 million in moral and exemplary damages to the family of Estella, also known as Lourdes Estella-Simbulan.

“Finally, a long-overdue decision that brings the two drivers and their bus companies to justice… Chit can finally rest in peace,” said Estella’s husband, retired University of the Philippines (UP) professor Roland Simbulan, in a VERA Files report.

In 2011, Estella was on her way to a dinner with friends at Ayala Technohub and was traversing Commonwealth Avenue when Ancheta, who drove the Nova bus, hit the taxi she was riding on the right side.

This caused the taxi to swerve in the path of Espinosa, driver of the Universal Guiding Star bus, who rammed the taxi's rear end, causing Estella's demise. 

Espinosa was "driving his bus at a fast pace," the court decision noted, which led him to slam into the taxi vehicle that caused Estella's fatal head injuries.

Both bus drivers "had the last clear chance to avoid the collision had they exercised reasonable care and precaution in driving their respective buses," the decision said.

The ruling also noted Estella's "immense contributions... as one of the country's premier academicians and journalists." 

Estella's death spurred the enforcement of road safety laws in the country, particularly Republic Act 10916, or the Road Speed Limiter Act of 2016, which aims to prevent road crashes by installing speed limiters in vehicles. 

Over a year after her death, the Quezon City government also installed a Commonwealth Road