.png)
.png)
The Department of Transportation (DOTr) will enforce new measures for public utility vehicle (PUV) drivers after a series of deadly vehicular accidents.
The agency will now require regular drug testing for PUV drivers every 90 days and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) will assist in implementing the new policy.
DOTr also directed the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) and the Land Transportation Office (LTO) to revise the maximum number of consecutive driving hours from six hours to four.
For long haul trips exceeding four hours, transport operators will be required to assign a reliever driver.
Transportation Secretary Vince Dizon on Monday announced that he will sign the department order within the day which will be “effective immediately.”
“We need to make the people feel safe on our roads again. This is the sad reality… and this needs to change now,” Dizon said in a press conference.
He also directed the LTO and LTFRB to ensure roadworthiness checks are strictly enforced and genuinely conducted.
“The roadworthiness checks here aren’t real—let’s be honest, we all know that. Buses and jeeps aren’t being properly inspected, which is why so many of them end up with failing brakes,” he added.
The Transportation secretary called for the full implementation of Republic Act 10916, or the Road Speed Limiter Act, which mandates the installation of speed limiters on PUVs.
“This needs to be implemented immediately. And there needs to be more than one supplier, because apparently, before I came in and saw it, there’s only one supplier. So that needs to change,” Dizon said.
He backed the call of Senator Grace Poe for the creation of a Philippine Transportation Safety Board to be in charge of investigating transportation-related accidents and incidents in air, land, and sea, including railways and pipeline systems.
10 persons, including four children, were killed while 30 were injured in a multiple-vehicle collision at the Tarlac City Toll Plaza on the Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEX) involving a Solid North bus on May 1.
On Sunday, a road accident occurred at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 1 when a Ford Everest rammed into passengers queuing outside that killed a five-year-old girl and an individual.
Three individuals were killed while 10 others were hurt after a crash involving six vehicles happened along Fortune Avenue in Marikina City on April 23.
Before Holy Week, two individuals died after a jeepney went wayward along Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City injuring 16 others.
‘Palace backing’
Malacañang backed the transportation department's directive to mandate regular drug tests.
“Opo, of course kinakalungkot po ang mga nangyari, lalo po’t may mga buhay po na nawala, may mga kababayan din po tayong nasaktan,” Palace Press Officer Claire Castro said in a press briefing.
They are also taking into account the possible reduction of driving hours for public utility bus drivers from six to four hours daily to prevent similar accidents in the future.
“Dapat pag-aralan po ito, kasi tandaan po natin kapag sobra po ang oras ng pagda-drive ng isang driver maari po itong maka-apekto sa kanyang kapasidad na mag-drive ng maayos,” she said.
President Ferdinand ‘Bongbong’ Marcos Jr. earlier vowed to make reforms in the country’s transport system and ensure accountability for recent tragic vehicular accidents.
“Ten lives were lost in a devastating collision in Tarlac. Days later, two more—one of them a child—were taken in a tragic accident at the airport. These incidents should never have happened,” Marcos said in a video statement.
He ensured to make reforms that will better safeguard the lives of commuters and travelers.
The president has directed Dizon to take immediate and decisive action to identify and hold accountable those responsible.
He has also instructed the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) to crack down on unsafe and exploitative practices in the transport sector, which result in driver fatigue and long hours to meet quotas that compromise public safety.
