A transport group has cited the aftermath of the Feb. 20 Tanay bus crash to stress the need for higher death and medical benefits for road accident victims.—INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) is pushing for a bigger insurance package for passengers killed or injured in accidents involving public utility vehicles, including death benefits of up to P400,000 or double the current rate.
“[The loss of a loved one] is not quantifiable. There is no value for human life. But the least that we can do is to make [the benefits for families] higher to help them in their expenses, such as burial,” LTFRB board member Aileen Lizada told reporters in a recent briefing.
With the agency’s memorandum circular on passenger accident insurance coverage set to expire next year, it would seek “higher benefits” for PUV passengers, who under the current system only receive P200,000 each in case of death.
Kapit’s call
In a letter to the LTFRB in June, the group Kilusan sa Pagbabago sa Industriya ng Transportasyon (Kapit) called on the board to revise the benefits.
Citing the fatal bus crashes in Rizal and Nueva Ecija provinces earlier this year, Kapit said the current Personal Passenger Accident Insurance Program (PPAIP) had “fallen short” of its objectives of financially assisting both victims and PUV operators.
“The cost of medical expenses, interment and burial have increased [over the years], making the insurance cover insufficient,” Kapit head Vigor Mendoza said in the letter.
“This is also taking a toll on operators, especially those who are not as well-off, as most of them are again forced to borrow from loan sharks and mortgage the little that they have if only to defray accident-related expenses.”
Leverage
In February, 15 people on a field trip, mostly students, died when their tour bus rammed a post in Tanay, Rizal.
Two months later, another bus crash in Nueva Ecija killed 32 people.
In both incidents, the families of the victims were given an accident insurance package of P200,000 each.
They also received additional financial aid from the government and the concerned bus operators.
Lizada said the board would work to raise the death benefit to P400,000 under PPAIP, as well as the medical benefits for the injured.
“We have the leverage to negotiate [with insurance firms],” she said. “Operators may see their premiums rise but this is also for them.”
Kapit earlier suggested that an additional P100,000 be given to families as burial and interment benefits.
It also asked that full educational scholarship up to college be given to one of the victim’s children.
LTFRB Memorandum Circular No. 2015-028, which sets guidelines for the PPAIP, will expire in November next year.