is ateneo also liable for amiel’s death?
the safety of children while in the school is the responsibility of the school. parents entrust their children to the school not only for their education but also their safety.
did ateneo do enough to ensure the safety of school children? many parents have posted that this issue of traffic and parking lots have been there for a long time and something parents have complained about. did ateneo do enough? or did they do anything at all? they charge P600.00 per car sticker in that school. it is pretty stiff for a car sticker.
when the accident happen, where were the school authorities? it was reported that another ateneo mom brought amiel to the hospital. why didn’t a school vehicle bring amiel to the hospital? did the school have to rely on the generosity of that ateneo mom?
were the school nurse and school doctor with amiel at the hospital? was there a school official who went with amiel to the hospital?
what will the school do now? will there be changes?
can the school be held legally liable for the death of amiel?
a lot of questions here.
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where in the world…
1mprayers
2thousand10
alexangelph
antenna1
dandansoy
doorkn0b
gloriavioleta
wawam
xyz123
WAWAM! after hours 
oo naman….. liable pa rin sila…
saan ka nakakita ng 5 lane loading at unloading zone tuwing dismissal…. lahat ng tao nagmamadali… mga bata nakikipagpatintero sa mga sasakyan…. only in ateneo….
pero sigurado ko…. 2 weeks from now… kapag wala na ang story sa newspapers… balik ulit sa dati… wala silang pakialam …. walang pagbabago….
mas importante pa yun unused open space sa likod ng lee irwin theater… mas importante yun parking ng mga teachers… mas impportante pa yun football field… wala silang pakialam basta na dismiss na ang mga bata….
pustahan tayo… walang pagbabago….
estudiyante pa lang ako… problema na yun traffic sa loob ng ateneo… yun parking problema din…
maski dati ….ang dismissal time magulo na …. may ginawa ba sila.?
ngayon tatay na ako.. mas dumami ang bata… pero pareho pa rin ang problema… correction…. mas lumala ang problema. … may ginawa ba sila?….
oo naman… meron… itinaas ang tuition fee … mas mahal ang car sticker…
kitam… meron naman silang ginawa…..
There are other schools within Metro Manila which may even be better than Ateneo in all aspects (Xavier, Northfield, Beacon, etc.). Never send your child to a school just because of convenience (i.e. distance).
I suggest parents begin pulling their kids out until the school improves. The tuition fee is so high, the classrooms and facilities look like they are fit for public schools, the road safety and parking are problematic, and the school does not listen to parental concerns.
Lumipat ka na lang sa U.P. Diliman. Better pa: lower tuition, not as much cars.
i suggest the alcantara family sue ateneo as well. ateneo needs to be taught a lesson.
tama ka… para kumilos lang sila… kung hindi sila idemanda… sigurado ko… babalik na naman sa dati .. at makakalimutan lang ang mga nangyari… at mauulit lang ang accidente…
hindi sila nakikinig sa mga concern ng mga magulang… sigurado ko… makikinig sila utos ng korte… abay.. gagastos sila ng malaki kung di sila makinig….
I write this comment because I long for improvement and changes. I may not know a lot about the school’s facilities and the traffic condition per se but then again, based on the posters’ consistent comments; I believe that the school has its own lapses as well.
If only these common concerns were addresses prior, I am sure that the lady driver could not have done such driving blunders since she could have been restricted if a traffic enforcer was indeed there guiding both drivers and students. As a result, AMIEL could have been saved and he perhaps is still alive today having to watch soon WOLVERINE or better the next HARRY POTTER movie. Thus, I get to forget about blogging once and for all.
But then again, we cannot turn back time. Everything is irreversible because no one can rewind this dynamic reality TV show they call LIFE.
With all these, I do hope that ATENEO GRAD SCHOOL or ATENEO DE MANILA UNIVERSITY adapt all possible means and ways to improve safety and security. It is not good for readers who are parents as well to know that there was no AMBULANCE at that time who could have taken AMIEL to the hospital faster. There was no immediate MEDICAL OFFICER around with a school as big as ADMU who could have given first aid or even life-saving measures to the patient.
The security guards were even seen unaware where they could have assisted in directing traffic to enable the car of the hero mom who offered a ride to AMIEL and his driver. What is even bad is the fact that some car owners and parents did not even bother to open their doors and offer a ride to the victim and his driver. Tsk.
If we get to review the story and read all the posts, we will be able to conclude that the school indeed had its own part to blame for all these aside from the lady driver who accidentally killed AMIEL and all the drivers and parents who merely watched without offering help on that given scenario.
Now, I do not want to give any recommendation whether to pursue a case with the school or to the others, I rather hope and pray that this incident will give light for improvement and changes less people, families and lives being hurt further by succeeding acts whether legal or in any other forms.
Let us proactively move forward and let us remain vigilant in improving things and fighting off injustices and wrongdoings. Thank you.
Ryan Ericson Canlas
WHAT HAPPENED WAS AN ACCIDENT.
It could have happened to anyone in a different place. If you are really a parent who goes often to Ateneo, you will see how much the security guards work just to ensure safety inside the campus.
Main problem is…we Filipinos have a hard time following the rules. Even though how many signs and pedestrian lanes the school will put up, we do not follow nor utilize them.
There was even a security guard who got fired because a parent got mad at him because he was trying to call the attention of the parent for not following his traffic signs.
Ang hirap kasi sa mga magulang ngayon…laging naghahanap nang masisisi sa mga kakulangan nila sa kanilang mga anak. Bago nyo sisihin ang paaralan, kayo ba may nagawa na para sa inyong mga anak?
Magaling lang naman kayong magreklamo pero may ibinibigay ba kayong solusyon?
If you really want to participate in changing the traffic flow inside Ateneo, don’t just complain…offer solutions.
Whatever happened to that lady driver inside the car was beyond the school’s control. Who could have guessed that she will commit a mistake of stepping on the accelerator instead of the brake?
I am not an Atenean but I do feel for the school. People have been judging the administrators of the school based on an incident that is beyond their control.
Again, it is not only the job of the security guards to ensure safety but it is our job as well.
***After seeing the photos of the incident, note that it happened far away from the pedestrian lane. Just a thought.
yes, it was an accident but it’s a preventable one. the school need to change things to help ensure accidents like these no longer happen.
i think the problem is you are not from ateneo. the system there is chaotic – children and moving vehicles mix together. that means it is possible inexperienced drivers and innocent and careless kids are present in one location. this accident was caused by an inexperienced driver.
many parents have complained for years now on the worsening traffic situation on campus. the school has not done anything substatially, really.
all we are asking is the school need to respond postively to the problems on safety. the amiel incident demonstrates there is a problem. they need to respond to it.
I have seen the morning traffic situation in Ateneo because I always pass there from Aurora going to the church of Gesu.
It’s just that most of the blogs I read is concentrated on how should Ateneo solve it…I think if you really want to ensure safety in your school everyone must be involved and responsible.
These are just some thought I had, after reading this article:
if you find the traffic bad outside the ateneo campus, it is chaotic inside the parking lots, specially at the GS.
of course ateneo should take the lead in solving it. they have the power, the authority and responsibility. as posted here, i agree that schools are not only responsible for the education of our children, they are also responsible for the safety of our children when they are in their care inside the campus.
whatever changes need to be made MUST be led by the school. the school MUST make the most changes. and of course the parents and drivers should also accept the changes and that will involve they will need to change themselves.
the life of a 10 year old boy was wasted. we should not have another young life wasted.
Accidente nga… PERO… pwedeng maiwasan… lahat may kasalanan…
pero… nasa admistration ng ateneo ang bola… sila dapat mamuno…. at lahat ay dapat sumunod… pati mga guro at official ng ateneo… at mga magulang….
sobtrang laki ng open space na meron pa sa loob ng ateneo … at sobrang laki rin ang charge nila para sa mga car sticker … imagine 600pesos at 1000 pesos per car ..dapat lang mag provide sila ng lugar na safe kung saan puwedeng sumakay ang mga bata… ano yun pera pera na lang ba yan…
kung di sila kumilos… siguro okey lang sa mga pari na makipagpatintero ang mga bata sa mga sasakyan tuwing dismissal time… (imagine mo lang… a 5 -6 lane loading ang unloading zone at lahat ng tao ay nagmamadali sumakay at bumaba ….mga bata sumisinggit sa mga naglalakihang SUV para pumunta sa kanilang sasakyan na nasa lane 6).. at pinipituhan ka pa ng mga security guards na ang concern lang ay mapabils lang yun flow ng traffic…
tinging ko… HINDI sila kikilos at makakalimutan na lang ang incidenteng ito… kasi dismissal time na… papauwi na ang mga bata…at di ito revenue generating… walang silang kikitahin… gastos pa…
di ko alam ang mga solusyon… kaya nga may profession na safety engineer eh.. (uy!! gastos parin mag hire nuon)
PERA PERA lang kasi…. walang pakialam…
ang mga tao… at lalo na ang mga pari….
SANA…. MALI AKO….
Please remember that this was not the first incident which happened within the school’s premises. In 2003, a major accident nearly took a boy’s life away. Just recently, an altercation over parking occured between a dad and a fiery mom. Almost everyday parents fight over parking in Ateneo.
I am not an Atenean but I do feel for the school. People have been judging the administrators of the school based on an incident that is beyond their control. -…..Magaling lang naman kayong magreklamo pero may ibinibigay ba kayong solusyon?
Dear Bart, they had the control. They’ve always had if they wanted to. I’m a parent and a member of the council. So many times and for so many years we had offer solutions and suggestions and they will always say that they will pass it to the board for discussion. We never got our answers back.
Whatever happened to that lady driver inside the car was beyond the school’s control. Who could have guessed that she will commit a mistake of stepping on the accelerator instead of the brake? –The fact that a person is driving, it means that you control your vehicle. And if it Torres claimed that the brakes did not function, why didn’t she had her car checked and why bring a van whose brakes aren’t properly working?! Drivig entails RESPONSIBILITY…
***After seeing the photos of the incident, note that it happened far away from the pedestrian lane. Just a thought. –Bart, It is still a school zone therefore, you must keep in mind that children cross every now and then. If it happened outside or along EDSA, then may kasalanan yung tumawid. But it is inside the school. A second home to our kids wherein we have assurance that when we bring them there, its as safe as our every home. Go ahead, blame the kid. I hope it doesn’t happen to yours if you have one. Then you’ll understand how we as parents feel.
“Accident (noun): anything that happens suddenly or by chance without an apparent cause”
What happened to Amiel is not an accident because it had its cause(s) and could have been avoided. Former LTO Chief Suansing once said that there are no road accidents, but road crashes.
Looking from the so-called 3E’s of traffic (education, engineering, enforcement), Amiel’s tragic mishap could have been avoided. Was the lady driver properly trained and licensed? Was the parking lot vehicle flow engineered in anticipation of possible collisions? Were there personnel to control the vehicular flow, especially during dismissal, precisely to avoid vehicular incidents?
The situation where Amiel lost his life is happening everyday in ALL school zones. I hope that Amiel’s lost will wake up everyone in the government, school administration, parents/teachers organizations, and vehicle drivers, to take up concrete actions to the most vulnerable of all road users: the children.
Ateneo doesnt care. The only thing they care about is money. As long as they cannot be held directly responsible for what has happened, nothing will change.
I think so too. Right now, they are giving counseling to the family of Amiel. They don’t need that becasue they have friends and each other for that.
Kumilos na kase dapat…Fahter Nebres, Fahter Kit. University Physical Plant. May million kayo para ibigay at isuporta sa UAAP players ng basketball team nyo pero wala para pangalagaan at baguhin ang kapakanana ng mga batang studyante nyio na mas nangangailangan. I bet hihingi na naman yan ng donations and sponsorships para maayos ang traffic
I was a student in the Ateneo Grade School from 1958 to 1962 and am sad to hear about what happened to Amiel Alcantara. It is so easy to say accident and forget the word RESPONSIBILITY! Who is to blame for this accident and can it be prevented from happening again? How much is spent on tuition fees yearly and how much on Security? I train Security Personnel and I can tell you that security guards are not properly trained for jobs like this! Has the Ateneo made a study on the traffic and security situation, or are they relying on the security guards to solve it? Is there a survey of accidents or near accidents in and around the Ateneo? I believe there is a need for the Ateneo to evaluate the Security and Safety of the school and to train proper security personnel for the job! Suggest the school place security cameras to observe and monitor pedestrians and vehicle traffic! Question is, are they willing to spend for prevention or just hope the problem goes away until another child dies!
The maniacs are back again. This morning, I saw a school bus and a white SUV apparently on the way to the grade school weaving and occupying the opposite laneof the service road parallel to Katipunan while speeding at that.
After I dropped my son off at the Grade School, our guards are again allowing/encouraging the counterflow at Masterson Drive.
If the cars were not situated in the pick-up/drop-off points of the AGS, students like Amiel would have been spared of the risk of being exposed to irresponsible, untrained and undisciplined drivers. Let the cars be concentrated in one big area (all ateneo parents know that the school has huge areas that coud be converted to parking / waiting areas for cars only). Walkways or paths could be created for pedestrians leading to this parking/waiting areas. Ateneo can no longer turn its head away from what happened to Amiel. My relatives in fact have commented that “nakakahiya ang Ateneo” for this tragic accident. Such an expensive school yet does not seem to care about the safety and well-being of it’s students. Fr. Nebres, please take drastic measures to turn this tragedy into a an avenue for major improvement so as not to let Amiel’s passing be in vain.
Here is a portion of my letter I sent to a group of Atenean parents.
“…When I heard about Amiel, I had flashes of images of my sons-going home from school, dragging those bulky bags, smelling sweat, hungry, tired but ready and active to play PS2 when they reach home.
Then came images of other kids going home, rushing to go home, Drivers rushing to get near the front gate, Yaya’s rushing to fetch and walks hurriedly pulling their “alaga’s” bags, Fathers waving, Mothers wiping off sweat- everybody in a rush!…
I… And as I write all I see in my mind are kids, hundreds of kids, probably even thousands, all rushing to go home- to play ball, to watch TV, to have a huge snack, to scan books and notes, to play computer games, to do whatever…
to go home,
to go home
… and when they are in thousands rushing, all I see are innocent faces of kids I do not know. And even only in hundreds I would not recognized even, who among them are my own.
After the tragedy, I now see all these faceless kids as mine and I as a parent, as all theirs.
And to AMIEL, my sons (your Atenean brothers) will remember you and will look up to you as an ANGEL and HERO.”
Our PRAYERS to the family …
He is HOME…
Marc/Joji Caniones
*Schools should have SAFETY OFFICERS, TRAFFIC CONTROLLERS, CROWD CONTROLLERS, AMBULANCES, IN-HOUSE DOCTORS, TRAFFIC ASSISTANTS and whatever, a Safety Committee will be best to establish, orientation and training of drivers and helps on discipline and safety, same with students and parents too. Impose fair penalties to offenders. I really do not know what else…
If only I could volunteer as a school TRAFFIC MARSHALL, a SAFETY Assistant, or whatever, just to make sure our sons are safe. Can we not have the school NSTP or ROTC college student assist?
There has to be a solution to all these, there must be, I hope and pray and will volunteer…
Marc
Was there a school official who went with Amiel and his driver to a hospital? –the answer…none. Apparently, the mom who brought Amiel to the hospital called a fellow Atenean mom who was on her way to pick up her grade 4 son. She called her to ask a favor to get her grade one son who was an afternoon section, and explained what happened. The school did not even know where Amiel was brought and had to find out from the other mom that Amiel was brought to New Era. The school official had no presence of mind. Did not bother to give the boy a ride and had to resort to THE ATENEO WAY —donation and generosity of others…not them..but of others.
Tumigil na nga kayo! tapus na! nangyari na ang hindi dapat mangyari….
eto lang ang suggestion ko…if you want to reduce the congestion in ateneo, may i suggest that the parents consider having thier kids take the school bus service to and from school. In this way there will be less cars going to and from ateneo fetching or taking the students. For every school bus that accomodates 20 students is the equivalent of reducing 20 cars or SUV’s that ply inside the ateneo gounds. This is a practical solutions to the traffic congestion not only inside the ateneo but also outside in Katipunan ave. At the same time we will be helping the environment in helping reduce pollution and save energy.
Felisa Montemayor – Do you think that by using a bus service the schoolchildren of Ateneo would be safe? I think not. I used to avail of a bus service for my children but it did not work. Apart from the fact that the bus took a longer route to school which left my children extremely exhausted at the end of the day, I could not be assured that they will arrive home safely, either because of the driving skills of the one operating the vehicle or of the road conditions before reaching our house. Roads in the Philippines are generally hazardous for various reasons: a) The road system was not properly planned to accommodate the demand of an increasing population (lack of pedestrian lanes, traffic control) ; b) lack of discipline; c) failure to properly implement and execute the laws, even to the most basic, llike the issuance of a driver’s license to those who are only competent to handle a wheel. We do not have Metra trains and buses arriving at designated spots at particular time of the day, which could ease traffic congestion. In other words, the government did not put up a system to induce or entice the people to take public transportation. Sadly, some public officials seemed to be more engrossed in pocketing the money of the people and using it for their own enrichment. It is indeed a shame to have those kind of public leaders .
The problem in Ateneo bespeaks of a larger problem. It cannot be solved by a simple solution of just availing a bus service since it does not give assurance to mothers like me that our children will be home alive.
Regina – Being engrossed in looking at the forest we fail to notice the tree. What we are currently concerned is the safety of our kids inside the ateneo campus per se. My son has been using a private school bus service for the last 8 yrs and we have not had any of the problems or concerns that you had encountered. We were DILIGENT in our screening of the private services available to ateneo students as posted at the school administration building during enrollement period. You may not done the same with your choice. There is no 100% garrantee as to the safety of anyone, life itself is a risk. We can only hope for the best and hopefully we make the right choices in order to increase our chances The road safety outside the ateneo is another matter which requires a different forum for discussion and I suggest that you forward your concerns and suggestion to our department of transportation, traffic management authorities, or to the law making bodies of our goverment. Good Luck!!