A DAY after a UST-commissioned vehicle was involved in a road incident, another batch of junior Artlets returning from their pilgrimage had to vacate their bus on Friday, Nov. 14– this time due to mechanical issues.
Following reports of a “sticky” brake from its driver and smoke emission, one of the buses carrying third year Communication and Journalism students had to be left behind at the Caltex Mega Station in San Fernando, Pampanga along NLEX at around 4:30 p.m.
The bus was on its way back from Manaoag, Pangasinan, where the annual pilgrimage of third-year Thomasians is held.
Passengers of the bus initially reported a “burnt rubber” smell, while the driver encountered an issue with the brake’s recoil mechanism, prompting an inspection of the vehicle.
“What happened then was, the sudden brake, the stock adjuster became stuck, so [the bus]… started smoking,” the bus driver told The Flame.
Communication junior Mikaela de Guzman said the fumes only emerged when the vehicle was restarted after the inspection.
Despite the assurance that the vehicle had been fixed, several of its passengers were instructed to transfer to other buses on the same trip. According to Communication block president Alexa Viray, only four to five passengers were told to stay, as the bus they were switching to was at the next stopover.
Not long after, the bus pulled over to another gas station, where it was eventually left behind.
Liev Manabat, another Communication student, said the bus had shown no signs of malfunction during its journey to Pangasinan, saying that “nothing happened on the way.”
“It was only during the trip home that an issue occurred,” he said.
It was the second time a bus tapped by UST for the Manaoag pilgrimage figured in an untoward incident.
On Thursday, a UST-commissioned bus carrying junior Legal Management students was hit by another vehicle at an area within the NLEX-SLEX connector. No one was injured during the mishap. F ― with reports from Jessica Luna and Veancy Palad
EDITOR’S NOTE: The article has been updated to include that the passengers were instructed to stay in the bus to await their transfer at another stopover.
