STATEMENT BY THE HONORABLE
BERNADETTE “BH†HERRERA-DY
Bagong Henerasyon Party-list
Chair, Committee on Public Information
0917-824-2424 FB: /bagonghenerasyonofficial/ Twitter: @BHherrerady
TIME TO ACT IS NOW: OVERHAUL THE OLD ROAD SAFETY LAWS
The land transportation and road safety regulatory architecture of our country is archaic, severely broken and is destroying many lives. It is so convenient to simply comment on and share the viral videos and news articles, and social media posts about these fatal collisions on our roads. But that kind of activity is not enough to solve the problem.
The virality of those media content (Example:
https://goo.gl/1AQjMZ ) will eventually fade and be largely forgotten. The real and constructive way to address the issues and underlying problems is the overhaul, updating, and future-proofing of our land transportation and road safety laws, as well as the related criminal and civil laws.
House Resolution No. 1486 calls upon the Department of Transportation, Department of Justice, Department of Trade and Industry, Department of Public Works and Highways, Office of the Court Administrator at the Supreme Court, the University of the Philippines Law Center, the Commission on Higher Education, and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority, to jointly form an INTER-AGENCY TASK FORCE ON THE REVISION OF LAWS ON LAND TRANSPORTATION, ROAD SAFETY, AND RECKLESS DRIVING.
The Resolution I filed asks these agencies to draft a NEW LAND TRANSPORTATION AND TRAFFIC CODE that addresses the continuum of issues from the time the driver’s license is issued, during the process of manufacturing a land vehicle, and when the roads and bridges are built, to the law enforcement, investigation, prosecution, and adjudication aspects of road collisions and incidents.
The new code should provide for some form of a Traffic Court or an adjudication board where all cases of reckless driving shall be heard and tried in a court of original jurisdiction. A special procedure for the specific management of all reckless driving cases is badly needed.
The time to REFORM these ancient laws is NOW. It was way back in 1964 when the Land Transportation and Traffic Code (RA 4136) became law. The great-grandmother of our country’s crime laws, the Revised Penal Code, was enacted in 1930. The Public Service Law (Commonwealth Act No. 146), which governs the issuance of the certificate of public convenience (commonly referred to as prangkisa o franchise), is circa 1936. The Civil Code of the Philippines (RA 386) is from 1949.
Over the years, patchwork amendments to these laws have been done. Now we have a neighborhood of old, decrepit legal houses in bad need of either overall or major renovation. Some of these laws are so ancient and obsolete that they must be completely torn down and replaced with new structures with adaptability features for future, unforeseen situations, and automatic review.
Consider also that road safety is also a matter of international commitment to the community of nations and citizens of the world.
The Philippines is a party to the Vienna Convention on Road Traffic which the Philippines signed on November 8, 1968 and acceded to on December 27, 1973. The 1968 Vienna Convention entered into force on May 21, 1977.
The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) 2016 Metro Manila Accident Recording and Analysis System (MMRAS) recorded 109,322 road accidents and that deaths resulting from those accidents numbered 446.
According to data of the Philippine Statistics Authority, the number of deaths from road crashes has stayed above 8,000 since Year 2010.
Road traffic injuries are the ninth leading cause of death globally, responsible for over 1.25 million deaths each year. To accelerate action to reduce this burden, the United Nations General Assembly declared a Decade of Action for Road Safety (2011–2020). (END)
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