LTFRB warns of suspension vs Partas Bus

The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) warned on Tuesday morning the bus company involved in the Christmas Day road accident in La Union that its fleet might be preventively suspended if it fails to submit by this noon all data related to the tragic incident.

LTFRB Board Member Aileen Lizada, it has already been 24 hours since the crash occurred but Partas Bus has yet to submit to them the dashcam card and GPS data of one of its units that collided with a jeepney early Monday morning.

The incident left 20 people dead, among them six children and a baby.

“[T]he board has decided that should Partas fail to comply before noontime today, the board will issue a preventive suspension order,” Lizada said.

Based on the police’s initial investigation, the speeding jeepney (WST 575) collided with the bus along the southbound lane of the Manila North Road in Barangay San Jose Sur in Agoo, La Union.

It noted that the jeepney overtook another vehicle when it crashed into the northbound bus at around 3:30 a.m.

Of the private jeepney’s 29 passengers, 19 were instantly killed in the crash, including the driver, while the 20th casualty died while undergoing treatment at a hospital. On the other hand, the bus’ 15 passengers and conductor suffered minor injuries.

Based on their text exchange with the management of Partas, Lizada said that the bus line claimed that as of Monday night, it has yet to recover the bus’ dash cam.                        /kga