To avoid blame, disaster czar warns drivers

Ducking the expected blame for any road and sea mishaps during the Holy Week, Office of Civil Defense (OCD) Administrator Benito Ramos has warned public transport operators and drivers, as well as resort owners, to step up safety measures for the hundreds of thousands of people expected to trek to the provinces next week.

“Zero casualties,” Ramos said of his goal for the rush  out of the city for  the long Lenten weekend.  “That’s why we hope to avoid (mishaps) with preparation, mitigation and prevention, especially for land passengers,” said the executive director of the multiagency National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council.

A week early, all OCD personnel nationwide have gone on red alert to prepare for the orderly land, sea and air travel of thousands of Filipino families headed to the provinces for Holy Week, Ramos said.  Other government agencies would go on red alert by next Monday, the start of Holy Week, he added.

Ramos said the OCD was also monitoring a low pressure area west of Palawan that had brought rains to northern Luzon in recent days, and “whether the rains would last up to Holy Week.”

The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) has  assured the public it was expediting road repairs in the capital and elsewhere to ensure travelers hassle-free road trips during the Holy Week.

In a statement, Public Works Secretary Rogelio Singson said he had directed

DPWH personnel to make sure that signs and pavement markings along national roads were properly installed as were warning signs at all ongoing road  projects.

The DPWH is taking advantage of the dry season to complete various repair and maintenance work in Metro Manila as well as in the provinces, but the road repairs have resulted in traffic jams in at least 20 major thoroughfares.

“Once our rehabilitation work on national roads are completed, the situation will certainly improve,” said Singson.  In the meantime, he added, motorists should skip road sections where construction work is ongoing and take alternate routes instead. Dona Z. Pazzibugan and Jocelyn R. Uy