The runaway driver in a stolen bus who created havoc on the roads here Tuesday morning before the bus collided head-on with a car and killed three Saudis, was a Filipino expatriate who had arrived in the Kingdom just weeks ago, sources said. Regour de Padua, 32, the driver, arrived in Jeddah from Muntin Lupin City, a Manila suburb, on Oct. 5, his colleagues at the Saudia airport terminal told Saudi Gazette, speaking on condition of anonymity. They said he had left the Philippines once earlier to work in Taiwan from 2000 to 2002, but not as a heavy vehicle driver. Reports said De Padua lost his mind and took off in the 55-seater bus from the premises of Saudia catering in Khalidiya District in West Jeddah, after receiving a phone call from his girlfriend ending their relationship. However, this could not be verified as De Padua is in police custody for causing the deaths of Saudi national Saad Al-Qarni, 23, and his mother and sister, who were killed inside their Toyota Corolla in the head-on collision at 5 A.M. near the Palestine Street exit from Haramain Expressway on the eastern fringe of the city. De Padua is married. His wife and daughter live in Muntin Lupin city. His father told ABS-CBN television channel Tuesday that he was shocked to hear about what his son had done. “He was a very good boy, very responsible,” De Padua Sr. said, appearing on TV with his face covered. Investigations are focused on De Padua's mental stability, which, if proven to be suspect, could bring to question the quality of the mandatory psychological tests in the Philippines for all Filipinos leaving for employment abroad, said sources in the Filipino community. De Padua's conduct on Tuesday was clearly abnormal, according to one of the 12 passengers caught in the mad drive. Two of the passengers were Filipinos and the rest were Bangladeshis and other nationals, all of them working at Saudi Catering, a source said, adding, De Padua was employed as a cargo transport driver at the Saudi Terminal. De Padua was “a loner,” said the source, citing colleagues who had noticed his aloof nature. “As soon as he finished work, he would have his lunch or dinner and go to sleep,” the source said. “He would not mingle with anybody.” De Padua's father corroborated his son's rather strange nature when he revealed on TV that he had been puzzled by an SMS message from De Padua about a week ago that asked, “Am I really your son?” Whatever the reason, early Tuesday morning, De Padua was clearly out of control. He stormed into the parked blue bus at Saudia Catering and drove off with the 12 people in the bus. They panicked when De Padua shouted, “If no Filipino speaks to me now, I'm going to crash this bus!” the source said, citing one of the passengers. He said they screamed and pleaded with him to stop and, soon enough, he did, for a moment near the Globe Roundabout heading toward the Saudia Terminal, which was time enough for the 12 to jump out of the windows and land on the pavement. Three of them were injured in the fall, one of them requiring admission to King Fahd Hospital for treatment, the passenger said. What happened next remains sketchy. Reports said De Padua sped away toward the airport. At the airport bridge, the police spotted the speeding bus and signaled for it to pull over. But the bus sped on, taking the wrong lane at the Airport Bridge heading towards Al-Haramain Expressway. The police chased the bus. Eyewitnesses said that the police fired a few shots in the air to try to get De Padua to stop. But he continued racing as fast as 120 kmph into the oncoming traffic on Haramain Road, heading south towards Makkah, swerving as he tried to avoid onrushing vehicles though still clipping at least 18 cars until, at the Palestine Street intersection, the bus ran head-on into a Corolla car and killed the three passengers in it on the spot. De Padua was uninjured in the crash. Police quickly overpowered him and took him into custody. Investigations continue. – SG __
