DOLE to investigate Tanay bus disaster

Fifteen dead after bus hits post in Barangay Sampaloc, Tanay, Rizal province. INQUIRER PHOTO / NIÑO JESUS ORBETA

The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) on Monday said that it will investigate the bus accident in Tanay, Rizal that resulted in the death of 15 people.

Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III instructed DOLE Regional Office 4-A Director Zenaida Campita to send a quick response team to determine if the tour company and the owner of the bus “strictly followed or violated occupational safety and health standards.”

READ: Bus crash death toll hits 15; teacher among dead

The tourist bus, ferrying students of Bestlink College of the Philippines on Monday, lost its brakes and hurtled downhill, rammed into an electric post and left 13 students, a teacher, and the driver dead, as well as more than 30 others injured.

They were on their way to a medical and survival training at the Sacramento Adventure Camp as part of their National Service Training Program when the crash happened.

“We express our sympathies to the victims’ families. We assure them that the labor department will do its part under the law and look after the victims of this untoward incident,” Bello said in a statement.

He added that the agency will make sure that all tour and bus company workers will receive proper assistance and benefits under the program of Employees Compensation Commission (ECC). JE/rga

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