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amiel alcantara’s 2 most favorite things at the taal lakehouse
amiel alcantara’s 1st year death anniversary activities at AGS
For our dear Amiel’s
1st yr death anniversary,
Ateneo set Mass on 24th Feb, 6:30 AM
at Ateneo Grade School Chapel.
Breakfast will follow.
Also in the evening of 24th feb,
we have arranged 6:30 pm
prayer and candle lighting
at the Amiel Marker in front of Ateneo Grade School.
Pls join salo-salo dinner in the grounds after.
message posted at facebook “Justice For Amiel Alcantara”
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/group.php?gid=260501086285
warrant of arrest for theresa torres, woman involved in amiel alcantara death
amiel alcantara’s 1st year death anniversary – february 24, 2010
it is close to being one year since the death of amiel alcantara, the grade 4 student of ateneo de manila grade school. this is not easy to forget – our children who go to school are supposed to be home at 4 pm. the school, after all in our minds is one of the safest places for your young children to be in. this did not happen in february 24, 2009 for amiel.
amiel was crushed by a speeding van to the back of a CRV. he died shortly. i remember talking to pepe, amiel’s dad and asked him what happened that afternoon. he told me, he was in the car when he got the call about the news on amiel. he told me he screamed when he was told amiel had died.
i can only imagine the anguish and pain that pepe felt. but i do not think that what pepe felt can approximate the pain and loss he felt even if i used the most vivid imagination that i can muster.
it is a senseless loss. and it was a great loss. on the approach of the 1 year death anniversary of amiel, we hope and pray that he sits with the Lord in heaven in eternal peace. we also hope that the family of amiel, his parents, siblings and other relatives have learned to find peace in their hearts.
spot at the AGS parking lot where amiel died
amiel's urn at the garden in their taal batangas rest house
amiel's classmates from 4-manobo await for the amiel's hearse to leave the AGS grounds
for more exclusive photos, please click : http://amielsfootprints.wordpress.com/
amiel alcantara’s marker at the AGS parking lot
these are pictures contributed by solar. we like to thank solar for his contribution to this blog.
we hope that this marker for amiel will remind us on a daily basis that we should honor this young boy’s life by staying safe in that parking lot. for pedestrians to follow all the rules all the time and for drivers to always take caution and drive slow in that area.
the traffic scheme that AGS ignored
we received an email that contains a traffic plan for the AGS. the email says this was developed by a group of professionals on design and safety – architects and engineers and was submitted to the multi-stakeholder committee for consideration.
this traffic scheme is very different from the one that is being implemented now which means this was not at all adapted by the committee.
proposed traffic scheme developed by professionals on design and safety
Design and Safety Philosophy : Separate Pedestrian and Vehicular Traffic
The safety of the Children is the paramount consideration to the design of any Traffic Scheme for schools. The best way to achieve this is to follow the tried and tested standard of separating pedestrian streams with that of vehicular flows to minimize if not to totally eradicate accidents of Ateneo’s students—the children of the main stakeholders of Ateneo de Manila University.
Design Concepts
1. Enlarged / Lengthened Waiting Areas.
The Waiting Areas (may be covered later) for fetching and dropping off students shall be lengthened by about 6 times the existing lengths. This shall discourage drivers from fetching and dropping off students in the middle of the road which may lead to another accident.
2. Central Waiting Area.
Pedestrian and Vehicular Streams should not cross as much as possible, therefore, a core shall be created making use of the Blue Eagle Gym, Irwin Theater and the Inner Driveway serviced by 2 Road Loops. The Inner driveway shall be used as a Holding Area where students can play safely in a gated (fenced) environment while waiting for their fetchers.
The Central Pedestrian / Waiting Area (where the current faculty parking is located) shall be connected to the Inner Driveway via the existing covered walkway from the Cafeteria or the existing open walkway (usually reserved for teachers only) through the Inner Driveway Courtyard where the statues of the Holy Family are located. From this Central Pedestrian / Waiting Area, students shall branch out to the Blue Eagle Gym, Irwin Theater and the Pedestrian /Waiting Area outside the Inner Driveway.
Traffic Flow
1. Gate 1 Entry.
From Gate 1, drivers proceed to Road Loop 1 and may drop off or fetch students along the lengths of Pedestrian / Waiting Areas A & B. They then exit through the Collector Road toward Gate 2-B or park their vehicles in the Parking Lots.
2. Gates 2 and 3 Entries.
From Gate 2, drivers proceed via Mastersons Drive to Road Loop 2 and may drop off or fetch students along the lengths of Pedestrian / Waiting Areas D & E. They then exit through Gate 2-B or Gate 3 or park their vehicles in the Parking Lots.
Drivers entering Gates 2 or 3 may also access Road Loop 1 via the Collector Road and may drop off or fetch students along the lengths of Pedestrian / Waiting Areas A & B. They then exit through the Collector Road toward Gate 2-B or park their vehicles in the Parking Lots.
3. School Bus.
School Buses may enter Gate 1, proceed to Road Loop 1 to drop off students along the lengths of Pedestrian / Waiting Areas A & B. They then proceed to the School Bus Parking via the Collector Road.
School Buses may also enter Gates 2 & 3, proceed to Road Loop 2 to drop off students along the lengths of Pedestrian / Waiting Areas D & E. They then proceed to the School Bus Parking via Mastersons Drive. Students are fetched by School Buses in their respective School Bus Parking slots along the lengths of Pedestrian / Waiting Areas C-1 & C-2 around the Blue Eagle Gym. Students walk to Pedestrian / Waiting Areas C-1 & C-2 without crossing roads / streets.
4. Faculty Parking.
Faculty Parking behind the Blue Eagle Gym and Parking of Administrators at the Inner Driveway shall be relocated to the rear of the Cafeteria where they walk through existing Covered Walkways at the side of the Cafeteria.
5. Fetchers’ Parking.
Existing parking for the general public shall remain. Access to these areas shall be via manned Pedestrian Crossings through Pedestrian / Waiting Areas D and C-1.
last night at the amiel alcantara shrine
last night, at around 9:30 pm, we passed by amiel alcantara’s shrine.
we saw 3 flower pots, the sunglasses, the remote control toy car and two candles were lit.
a few things:
- the most surprising was the lit candles. we thought someone is being diligent enough to go to the shrine at night and light them. this is very time specific. that takes devotion.
- the flower pots are a very good idea. it is adorned by beautiful blooming flowers everyday, living things placed on the spot where amiel died.
- the flowers are blooming. that can only mean someone or some people are diligently watering the flower pots. an ateneo gardener? an ateneo parent?
- the flower pots, the toy car and the sunglasses were arranged neatly. someone took the pains to fix it and put some order there. an ateneo maintenance man? security guard? a parent?
the ateneo community continue to remember and pay tribute to amiel.
we also saw bond paper sized posters around the shrine. it had the image of footprints with a pair of angel wings on them. yes, that is the spot where amiel’s footprints stopped. but they now have angel wings for us to follow and to continue.
A PEDESTRIAN LANE… THANKS TO AMIEL!
rey canlas is not an ateneo dad nor is he an atenan. he is a lourdes school mandaluyong (LSM) dad and from UP and he posted in this blog when he read about amiel alcantara’s tragic death.
like many dads, moms and individuals, he was touched by amiel’s death. having a young son at LSM, he championed safety improvements at the shcool of his son. LSM school authorities responded positively. (read this here :
https://wawam.wordpress.com/2009/03/01/something-good-has-come-up-from-amiels-tragic-death/)
now, here is an update on what has happened at LSM. go to his blog and let’s post there and celebrate this good thing that has come out of amiel’s tragic death :
http://ryanericsongcanlas.wordpress.com/2009/03/31/thanks-to-amiel/
A PEDESTRIAN LANE… THANKS TO AMIEL!
I arrived almost past 9PM and as I entered the building, I saw newly made PEDESTRIAN LANE just in front of Lourdes School of Mandaluyong facing our residential building. It was still half-done but it made me feel happy. I got my phone and I took a photo of it. As I climbed the stairs to the lobby, I remembered AMIEL ALCANTARA, the 10-year old student who passed away almost a month ago at Ateneo Grade School.
I greeted the security guard whose name tag has the name, ALCANTARA. I then talked to him about the new PEDESTRIAN LANE and how important it is not just to the kids at our residential building studying at LSM but for all others who goes to the church and those who goes to work in nearby buildings who needed to cross the street with care.
Then, I thought of referring to his name tag and relating the discussion to AMIEL ALCANTARA and how instrumental he was for all the various safety enhancements and initiatives now being adopted by schools nut just elementary but also high schools and colleges. Manong Guard agreed. He heard about it and he was thankful as well.
It has been almost a month since the incident that claimed the life of this young boy took place but the lesson learned and the good things that this has brought to the society will always remain. I know that somehow, whenever I get to see the PEDESTRIAN LANE at Lourdes School of Mandaluyong, I will always remember the young boy that was AMIEL ALCANTARA.
Thank you.
message from pepe & melanie alcantara : 40th day mass for amiel alcantara on april 5
message from the alcantara family:
Please join us for the 40th day mass for our Amiel on Palm Sunday, 5th of April at the Atene Grade School chapel. There will be a program that will start at 5pm in honor of Amiel.
The tragic death of our Amiel has left us his footprints for us to follow, for our healing as a family and community, and for our doing of its meaning and purpose. Please join us in this journey.
~Pepe & Melanie Alcatara
ateneo grade school chapel
pepe, amiel alcantara’s dad disatisfied with ateneo’s “turtle’s pace” in correcting safety lapses at the ateneo
Alcantara family plans to sue Ateneo for parking mess
abs-cbnNEWS.com | 03/27/2009 4:11 PM
Amiel Alcantara’s family is set to file a “breach of contract” charge against Ateneo de Manila University (AdMU) for allegedly failing to solve the campus’s parking scheme problems, the family’s lawyer announced Friday.
Rafael Aquino, lawyer of the the Alcantaras, said the family is dissatisfied with the Ateneo’s “turtle’s pace” action in correcting safety lapses in the school’s parking and traffic scheme.
He explained that the “breach of contract” charge will be filed against Ateneo because the school is not only morally responsible, but legally liable, for the students within its grounds.
According to Amiel’s father, Jose Fernando “Pepe” Alcantara, Ateneo’s decision to beef up the number of security guards is merely a “band-aid solution,” and that the school’s actions lacked determination, a time table, and scope.
He said he wants to see Ateneo implement fast and comprehensive safety measures around the campus like constructing road humps in parking areas, improving the parking plan, fixing the sidewalks, and hiring more crossing guards instead of security guards.
The Alcantaras’ 10-year-old son Amiel was killed after he was pinned by a speeding car at the Ateneo Grade School (AGS) parking lot last February. Amiel died from severe injuries after he was hit, while crossing with his nanny, by a Toyota Hi-Ace Van driven by Ma. Theresa Torres, mother of a fellow AGS student.
Reinvestigation pursued
In criminal trial proceedings conducted Friday, the prosecution asked the Quezon City Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 106 for a reinvestigation of the case.
The prosecution alleged that Torres showed a clear intention to kill, and that she should reportedly be charged with homicide instead of reckless imprudence resulting to homicide.
The Alcantaras’ counsel also petitioned the court to issue a hold departure order against Torres.
However, the suspect’s lawyer, Atty. Rolando Villiones said that his client does not have any plan to leave the country.
Villiones also said he had filed a motion before the Quezon City RTC to merge three criminal cases filed against Torres into one complex crime of reckless imprudence resulting in homicide and multiple physical injuries. He said this would make it easier for his client during her arraignment.
Mr. Alcantara, meanwhile, said several parties have approached the family for a settlement, but that they are not open to it at this time.–report from Sol Aragones, ABS-CBN News
——–
comments to this post:
If that is what it will take Ateneo to move towards a more permanent solution, I agree with the Alcantara family. SUE ATENEO! It has been more than one month since Amiel’s death but we still have to hear from the heads of the department and committees. It is an exercise in frustration waiting for a response from a supposedly reputable school. Its procrastination and seeming lethargy is something its students should not emulate.
What will it take to announce that humps are being constructed, parking slots opened, sidewalks being fixed? Does it need to form a multistakeholder committee to see this? Will they need to wait for another accident to happen? Do they need to wait for the beginning of the school year?
The answers are staring everyone in the face. The response should be simply and proactively addressed.
If it will need a court case for Ateneo to proceed with its unfinished business, we support the Alcantara family on this!
This tragedy should never happen again.
Losing Amiel worst pain of all, says amiel alcanatara’s yaya
[kyte.tv appKey=MarbachViewerEmbedded&uri=channels/48209/372339&tbid=k_11214&premium=false&height=445&width=425]
Inoperahan sa paa kanina ang yaya ng nasagasaan at namatay na Ateneo student na si Amiel Alcantara. Pero mas masakit para sa kaniya na hindi natuloy ang arraignment sa nakasagasa sa kanila. Magba-Bandila si Gretchen Malalad, exclusive. Bandila, Huwebes, Marso 12, 2009
ABS-CBN TV news video: Amiel’s ashes brought to rest house at taal lake, amiel’s favorite place
[kyte.tv appKey=MarbachViewerEmbedded&uri=channels/48209/367440&tbid=k_9641&premium=false&height=445&width=425]
this blog making a difference – Manila Standard Today; Blogs: Ateneo pupil hit by ‘texting’ driver
Blogs: Ateneo pupil hit by ‘texting’ driver
The 37-year-old mother who accidentally ran over and killed an Ateneo de Manila gradeschool pupil on Tuesday afternoon was allegedly “texting” moments before the tragedy.
Witnesses said Ma. Theresa Torres appeared to have dropped her mobile phone and was picking it up when she seemed to have mistakenly stepped on the accelerator of her Hi Ace van just as the victim, Julian Carlo Miguel “Amiel” Alcantara, was passing in front of her.
“Torres asked her driver to get her own son and so she was seated on the driver side, buckled up. Eyewitnesses saw her texting with her cell phone. Then people saw her unbuckle her seat belt and she stooped down to get something on the floor of the van, presumably she dropped her cell phone and bent down to get it from the floor,” one witness said. “It was in that position that led her to mistakenly step on the gas accelerator rather than the brakes,” the witness added.
read in full here: http://www.manilastandardtoday.com/?page=police3_feb28_2009
Ateneo beefs up traffic agents after pupil’s death
abs-cbnNEWS.com | 03/05/2009 5:36 PM
The Ateneo de Manila University (AdMU) has strengthened its efforts to improve traffic safety and management inside the campus, following the tragic death of one of its students.
In a statement released in its website, AdMU said additional traffic enforcers were deployed in areas where there is heavy convergence of vehicular and pedestrian traffic, particularly in Grade School and High School drop-off and pick-up points, and pedestrian lanes leading to parking areas.
Safety measures have also been set up in the stretches of the campus road network where speeding is likely to occur.
In addition, the university said a multi-stakeholder committee has been formed to review community recommendations. Chaired by Grade School Headmaster Fr. Norberto Bautista, the committee is composed of parents, university administration, campus traffic group and consultants.
“We have received many email messages and phone calls from the community suggesting ways to improve traffic safety and traffic management on campus in light of last week’s fatal accident. I would like to assure the community that the recommendations and concerns will be attended to,” AdMU President Fr. Bienvenido Nebres said.
Parents of Ateneo de Manila Grade School (AGS) students earlier launched a signature campaign to back a petition for the safety of their children.
Called “Amiel’s Footprints,” the petition aims to preserve the memory of Grade 4 student Amiel Alcantara, who was pinned to death by a van last week inside the AGS parking area.
SOME GUIDES FOR HEALING AFTER AMIEL’S DEATH
Dear friends,
as we to mourn the death of a beloved student, the task before us , a
task that no single group or person can manage on their own, is to
come together as a community and contribute to the healing of a
community that is wounded.
May I invite everyone of us, most especially those on the ground to
consider the following guides as we walk our students/ sons through
this
experience:
1. find time to talk about it.
2. as we talk about it, take a conscious effort of going beyond the
graphic details of his death. While the tragic circumstances force us
to focus on this aspect of his death, we also like to form a more
optimistic image in the minds of many of our young impressionable
students.
3. be keen on people’s emotional reaction. they may come in the form
of jokes, or non verbal gestures but they speak volumes about people’s
inner selves. In particular, in may be good to be on guard for
feelings of fear, insecurity, and anger- emotions that if not
channeled productively can lead to dysfunctional behavior.
4. Finally, and most importantly find time to validate our own
feelings and reactions to this experience. This is after all what we
bring with us as we take on this important responsibility of helping
others deal with this issue.
let us show amiel that his sorrowful death was not in vain because
from it, we are blessed with the opportunity to appropriate cura
personalis .
jonny salvador
where in the world…
1mprayers
2thousand10
alexangelph
antenna1
dandansoy
doorkn0b
gloriavioleta
wawam
xyz123
WAWAM! after hours 
“impossible traffic” at the Ateneo Grade School
“impossible traffic” was how one ateneo dad describes the traffic situation at the AGS. we concur.
it has now taken much longer, at around 2 to 3 times longer to get in and out of the ateneo campus in the morning during drop-off and most specially in the afternoon at pick-up. what used to be getting in and out of the ateneo from 10 to 20 minutes, it is now anywhere from 15 to 30 minutes depending on the time. and that is just to get out and in to the AGS campus.
something is also wrong now at katipunan, on the approach to and getting out of the ateneo campus. traffic lines are now much longer, bumper to bumper and standstill traffic is more common. we wonder if the new traffic scheme implemented at the AGS is causing the traffic jam outside of ateneo. commuters and drivers along katipunan must now be fuming mad at ateneo.
pictures were taken on june 19, afternoon dismissal.
bumper to bumper traffic on road along katipunan. this reached up to the gate.
the other side is no different - bumper to bumper traffic on matheson road reaching all the college buildings to gate 3
double parking on both sides on parking beside the football fields across the blue eagle's gym
comments and suggestions posted here, to read, please click: https://wawam.wordpress.com/new-ags-traffic-scheme-comments-suggestions/
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