The local art industry and
many in the Philippines mourns over the untimely demise of popular
personality Arvin Jimenez, aka Tado as well as other local artists Andrew David
Sicam, Gerard D. Baja, and Giovanni “Bam” Morillo. They were amongst the
casualties of yesterday morning, February 7, 2014’s tragic bus accident at
Bontoc, Mountain Province.
News Reports
According to reports, the
Florida bus line (now suspended) transporting 47 people plunged into a ravine
while traversing Sitio Ab-ab in Barangay Bayyo. According to LTFRB, the
bus may have lost its breaks while at a descending road.
14
were originally confirmed to be dead, 24 severely injured, and 4 supposedly missing.
Reading news articles about the incident online, I’ve seen comments from locals
saying the death toll have already risen to 18 (15 as per news reports). Some of identified casualties
are as follows:
1.
Arvin “Tado” Jimenez
2.
Andrew David Sicam
3.
Gerald D. Baja
4.
Giovanni “Bam” Morillo
5.
Ana Cruz Alaba
6.
Marcial Baranda Jr.
7.
Anna Van-Deven
8.
Alex Laring
9.
Natividad Ngawa
Van-Deven is a Dutch national while Laring is Canadian.
Most passengers were tourists heading for a mountaineering trip while some were
members of Christian churches who were supposed to attend an event.
We Mourn Local
Artists
Social media is filled with condolences and well wishers
for comedian Tado’s journey to the next life. Not everyone will be open to this
idea but I am. Tado is best known for comedic roles and overall funny
personality along with his stick figure, large spectacles, and long hair. He is
popularized through several TV shows such as Strangebrew in UNTV, radio jock in
The BrewRATS at U92, and appearances in movies. He also owns an apparel (graphics
t-shirts) and toy collectible shop, LimiTado.
He
was involved in arts at various fields including theater, painting,
photography, music, filmmaking, and book writing. He formed the group Dakila
along with other local artists to help instill heroism in modern day living. He
wrote the books Nag-iisa Lang Ako and It’s All About Myself, Not Yours. The
latter was dubbed as a bio-eulogy. Strange enough, there were several supposed
premonitions through his social media posts prior to his death. He was also working 40 Mountains, a series of videos chronicling his
mountaineering adventures.
Aside
from Tado, other artists we mourn are Andrew Sicam from the band
Kinaiya, visual artist Gerald D. Baja, and Solar TV News head of the graphics
department Giovanni Morillo. In fact, Tado was with 16 companions on the trip
and most of them are artists.
Fare Thee Well
Fare thee well Tado, other local artists with you, and
the rest of the victims. Comfort be with your bereaved families.
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