LTFRB suspends 7 Partas Bus units after deadly La Union crash

The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) has suspended seven units of Partas Bus for thirty days after the company failed to submit the dashcam footage of the fatal Christmas Day collision in La Union.

In a message to reporters on Tuesday, LTFRB board member Aileen Lizada said the preventive suspension order would be issued on Wednesday. The suspension covers the company’s Pagudpud, Ilocos Norte-Sampaloc, Manila route.

Partas failed to submit before 12:00 noon on Tuesday the dashcam card and global positioning system (GPS) data of its bus unit that collided with a jeepney last Monday, Lizada said.

“The violation of Partas is for the failure to comply with the directive of the board, considering 36 hours na po ang nakalampas (have passed) since the road crash,” Lizada said.

“Deadline was 12:00 noon today to submit the footage of the dash cam. That is very crucial to the investigation being conducted by the board,” she said.

Lizada said that Partas only managed to submit the closed circuit television (CCTV) footage inside the bus unit before the deadline.

“That (CCTV footage) will not help us resolve the road crash. What we need is the footage from the dash cam,” she said.

According to an initial police report forwarded by Lizada, the jeepney collided with the bus on Manila North Road’s southbound lane in Agoo, La Union after overtaking another vehicle at around 3:30 a.m. on Monday.

The report stated that 19 of the jeepney’s passengers, including the driver, died after the collision, while another died at a hospital. The bus’ 15 passengers and conductor suffered minor injuries, according to the report. /je