LTFRB to give P400,000 to each kin of passengers killed in SCTEx crash

An ambulance of the Philippine Red Cross arrives at the scene to bring victims to the hospital after a multi-vehicle collision along SCTEx on May 1, 2025. —Photo from the Philippine Red Cross

MANILA, Philippines — The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) on Thursday said it plans to provide P400,000 to families of each deceased passengers in the fatal multi-vehicle crash along the Subic-Clark- Tarlac expressway (SCTEx) P400,000.

In an interview with INQUIRER.net, LTFRB spokesperson Ariel Inton clarified that the P400,000 was intended for the deceased passengers of the bus that caused the multi-vehicle crash on SCTEx—which will be sourced from the bus operator’s insurance company.

However, it was later determined that the fatalities were occupants of private vehicles rather than the public utility bus.

READ: Multi-vehicle accident on SCTEX in Tarlac kills 10 persons

For these victims, the insurance payout was only P200,000 in total—the entirety of which will be divided among the families of the deceased based on the current third-party liability insurance coverage.

Inton said the LTFRB is already pushing for a higher coverage of victims of accidents, especially in similar cases with what happened in SCTEx.

“Isa sa mga winowork out ni Chairman Guadiz and transport leaders is taasan na ‘yang third party liability, kasi in an accident—buhay din ‘yan eh,” he said in a phone interview with INQUIRER.net

(One of the things being pushed by Chairman Guadiz and transport leaders is to increase that third-party liability, because when accidents happen—those are lives lost.)

Meanwhile, Inton noted that the LTFRB can also instruct the bus operator to provide assistance to the crash victims.

It was LTFRB chair Teofilo Guadiz III who first told INQUIRER.net that he already instructed the Passenger Accident Management and Insurance Agency to immediately address the needs of those involved in the road crash on the day of the accident itself.

The accident occurred at around 12:30 p.m. on Thursday, right during Labor Day, when the passenger bus hit an SUV which was at full stop along with other vehicles at the second lane (northbound) of the SCTEX toll plaza.

The strong impact resulted in a ripple effect, with the SUV also crashing into the other vehicles in front of it.

A total of 10 people—four of whom children—were killed in the incident, with over 37 injured.

The bus operator, Pangasinan Solid North Transit Inc., has since been suspended from operating.