Antique bus crash spurs Poe to renew push for transport safety board

Senator Grace Poe speaks during a Senate session. (File photo from Bibo Nueva España/Senate PRIB)

MANILA, Philippines – Senator Grace Poe has revived her proposal to establish a National Transportation Safety Board.

Her view comes following the Antique bus crash that killed 17 individuals.

In a statement on Wednesday, Poe said she is “enraged with the loss of lives that could have been prevented.”

The senator is the chairperson of the Senate committee on public services.

“Regrettably, crash incidents continue to happen because vehicles that are not roadworthy are still allowed to ply the highways, and some drivers get hold of the steering wheel, even without rigorous training,” said Poe.

“We reiterate our push for our pending bill to create a National Transportation Safety Board that will solely be responsible [for] investigating transportation-related incidents in air, land, and sea, including railways and pipeline systems,” she emphasized.

The measure covers stringent inspection of public vehicles to prevent road mishaps, such as the tragedy in Antique.

“Agencies concerned must also ensure that the fees collected from vehicle registration and relevant taxes go to road safety measures such as street lights, railings, and signboards,” Poe pointed out.

The antique provincial government said 28 persons, including the driver, conductor, and inspector, were on board when the Ceres bus fell into a ravine in Hamtic town in Antique on Tuesday afternoon.

Local officials, in a press conference on Wednesday, said of the 28, 17 died, seven are in critical condition, while four are stable.

/abc