The bus carrying mostly homebound factory workers was traveling at high speed Saturday in Cebu province when it lost its brakes while maneuvering a downhill curve. The driver crashed the vehicle into the cement barrier to avoid hitting a throng of pedestrians, police official Erson Digal said.
Most victims were killed inside the bus but five others died after being thrown from the vehicle on impact. The dead included a mother and son who died in an embrace, Digal said.
"It happened so fast. Residents heard the crash then the yells of so many people calling for help," Digal told The Associated Press by telephone.
The injured bus driver was taken into police custody for questioning after receiving treatment.
Saturday's crash in Toledo city was the second deadly bus accident in recent weeks in the area. A bus rented by Iranian medical students plunged into a ravine off a mountain road in Balamban town, near Toledo, killing 21 people last month.
Cebu is about 350 miles (560 kilometers) southeast of the capital Manila.
