Two canine encounters on the road lead to unfortunate accidents, resulting in a fatality and injuries.
Recent road accidents in Metro Cebu, most notably the tragic incident on July 9, 2025, involving a public school teacher and a stray dog, have sparked significant safety concerns. The accident, which occurred on H. Abellana Street in Barangay Basak, Mandaue City, has highlighted the importance of both public infrastructure projects and responsible pet ownership.
57-year-old Reywena Velez Sorono, a teacher at Labogon Elementary School, was riding a motorcycle when it struck a stray dog. The impact caused Sorono and the driver, Rene Bordario Misa, to fall off the motorcycle. Tragically, Sorono was then run over by a following SUV, resulting in her death upon arrival at Eversley Childs Sanitarium and General Hospital. The SUV driver, 18-year-old Heinrich Lee Cañete Pilones, may face charges of reckless imprudence resulting in homicide and damage to property.
This unfortunate incident has renewed calls for greater road safety measures, particularly in areas where stray animals are common. Local authorities have emphasised the need for proper implementation of safety features in public infrastructure projects, such as drainage systems, to prevent stray animals from wandering onto busy roads.
Lapu-Lapu City Lone District Representative Junard "Ahong" Chan has acknowledged concerns about the safety of a drainage project near the accident site. The site, which is part of an ongoing drainage and road concreting project, features deep open canals, exposed reinforcement bars (rebars), and lacks safety barriers or signages. Chan has ordered a reinspection to assess if the contractor failed to comply with safety requirements.
In addition to road safety, the incident has also brought attention to the need for responsible pet ownership. Chan has called for pet owners to follow the city ordinance requiring all dogs and cats to be registered and vaccinated. One proposed solution being promoted by local authorities in Cebu is the Capturing, Neutering, Vaccinating, and Returning (CNVR) program. This program aims to manage the stray animal population humanely by vaccinating and sterilizing them before returning them to their original locations to prevent unchecked reproduction and reduce disease spread.
In summary, the safety concerns about road accidents involving stray dogs in Metro Cebu revolve around the need for infrastructure projects to consider animal movement patterns for better safety, encouraging responsible pet ownership to prevent animals from becoming strays, and strengthening government and community efforts to manage stray dog populations through programs like CNVR. Such coordinated actions are vital to improve overall road safety and protect both human and animal lives in Metro Cebu.
- The tragic road accident in Metro Cebu on July 9, 2025, has brought attention to the importance of responsible pet ownership in terms of mental health and general news, as the incident has sparked concerns about the welfare of both humans and animals.
- In light of the accident involving a public school teacher and a stray dog, discussions regarding science and health-and-wellness have been focused on implementing proper safety measures in public infrastructure projects, such as drainage systems, to prevent similar incidents in the future.
- The incident on H. Abellana Street in Barangay Basak, Mandaue City, underscores the need for ongoing road safety measures, particularly in areas with a high stray animal population, and emphasizes the role of local authorities in ensuring compliance with safety requirements in infrastructure projects like the one in Lapu-Lapu City.
- Lapu-Lapu City Lone District Representative Junard "Ahong" Chan has addressed concerns about the safety of a drainage project near the accident site, and called for implementation of the Capturing, Neutering, Vaccinating, and Returning (CNVR) program, which supports responsible pet ownership as a means to manage the stray animal population, promoting overall road safety in Metro Cebu.
