MANILA, Philippines — President Rodrigo Duterte has signed a law declaring the third Sunday of November of every year as the “National Day of Remembrance for Road Crash Victims, Survivors, and their Families.”
Duterte signed Republic Act 11468 on Jan. 23, a copy of which was released on Thursday.
In signing the law, Duterte said declaring a national day of remembrance will “raise the awareness of the people on the causes, consequences, and costs of road deaths and injuries, and for the strengthening of advocacy to prevent such traumatic incidents and promote road safety through a collaborative platform that brings together various sector stakeholders.”
The Department of Transportation (DOTr), will lead the implementation of activities for the national day of remembrance in coordination with the Department of interior and Local Government, Land Transportation Office, Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board and the Metro Manila Development Authority.
Among the activities to be conducted for the annual commemoration are commemorative ceremonies, special blood donation campaign per local government unit, special recognition to public officers, private stakeholders, volunteers and organizations who are instrumental in saving lives or supporting victims, survivors and their families; special inter-faith and inter-religious commemoration in all local government offices and police stations; multisectoral symposia; public awareness campaign; flag-raising ceremonies; information dissemination; and online/social media campaign raising awareness on road safety.
To ensure meaningful commemoration each year, the DOTr Secretary will be tasked to lead an inter-agency working committee.