THE Department of Transportation (DOTr) is set to issue a department order that will require Public Utility Vehicle (PUV) drivers to undergo mandatory drug testing in light of the series of recent fatal road accidents.
In a press conference, Transportation Secretary Vince Dizon said he will sign the department order within the day and it will be effective immediately.
Dizon issued the order following the incident in Tarlac City, along SCTEX, where a bus rammed four other vehicles waiting in line for tollgate payment, resulting in the killing of 10 individuals and the injury of over 30 others.
Four of the fatalities were children while two others were a couple who were survived by their two-year-old child, who sustained only minor injuries during the incident.
“Ako po ay galit na galit nung narinig ko sa news na ‘yung hinuling driver ng Solid North ay ayaw daw magpa-drug test. Wala po siyang choice… Hindi pwedeng hindi ka pumayag. Nakapatay ka ng sampung tao, hindi ka papayag na magpa-drug test? Pwede ba ‘yun? Parang katawa-tawa naman 'yun. So hindi na pupwede yon,” Dizon said.
(I was extremely angry when I heard on the news that the arrested Solid North driver supposedly refused to undergo a drug test. He has no choice… You can't just refuse. You killed 10 people, and you won’t agree to a drug test? Is that even allowed? That sounds ridiculous. That should no longer be allowed.)
Dizon said the DOTr, Land Transportation Office (LTO), and Land Transportation, Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) will be working with the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) to implement the order.
He said under the order, PUV drivers must undergo a regular mandatory drug testing, which may be conducted every 90 days.
Dizon said it will also require bus companies to provide two drivers for a trip that will exceed four hours.
“At pinapadagdag ko pa ro’n, kailangan may ka-relyebo. Kung ang byahe ay mas mahaba sa apat na oras, mandated ang bus company na maglagay ng relyebo. Hindi konduktor. Ngayon ang ginagawa, ang konduktor siya din ang ginagawang ka-relyebong drayber. Hindi po pupwede na ‘yun,” he said.
(And I’m adding to that -- the bus must have a backup driver. If the trip lasts more than four hours, the bus company is mandated to provide a relief driver. Not the conductor. What they’re doing now is making the conductor serve as the backup driver. That’s not acceptable.)
The transportation secretary also raised the importance of road-worthiness assessment on PUVs, stricter driver’s education, the strengthening of the implementation of the Republic Act 10916 or the Road Speed Limiter Act of 2016, and the creation of the Philippine Transportation Safety Board, which will be a sole agency in charge of investigating transportation-related accidents and incidents in air, land, and sea, including railways and pipeline systems.
“We need to make the people feel safe on our roads again because they do not feel safe. We all do not feel safe. Each and every one of us, araw-araw tayong dumaraan sa mga kalye. ‘Yung nangyari sa NAIA, ‘yung nangyari sa Solid North, pwedeng nangyari sa kahit sino sa atin dito,” Dizon added.
(We need to make people feel safe on our roads again -- because right now, they don’t feel safe. None of us do. Each and every one of us uses the roads every day. What happened at NAIA, what happened with Solid North -- those could have happened to any one of us.)
On Sunday, a five-year-old girl and a 28-year-old man were killed when a sports utility vehicle (SUV) crashed through the passenger entrance of the departure area at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) Terminal 1. (TPM/SunStar Philippines)