COTABATO CITY – A female public school teacher died Wednesday morning after the motorized banca she was riding collided with another banca along the Pulangi River in neighboring Sultan Kudarat, Maguindanao.
Chief Insp. Lindsey Sinsuat, Sultan Kudarat police director, identified the victim as Jasmin Billo, 39, a teacher of the town’s Katidtuan Elementary School and a resident of Cotabato City.
Sinsuat said the victim was onboard a banca-for-hire, driven by Tato Abdul, on the way to the Katidtuan school using the Pulangi waterway around 7:30 a.m. when it struck another speeding motor banca, being steered by a certain Sabe Anas, which was going the opposite direction.
“The impact was so strong that it sent teacher Jasmin falling to the water with a serious head injury,” the police official said.
Sinsuat said other banca operators and rescuers rushed to the site and brought the unconscious teacher to the hospital, who was declared dead on arrival by attending physicians.
Police detained the two banca operators pending a thorough investigation.
The river of Pulangi is a major tributary of Rio Grande de Mindanao, the largest watercourse in Mindanao separating Cotabato City from the province of Maguindanao on the northern side. (Noel Punzalan/PNA)
