DOTC agencies ordered to tighten security

MANILA, Philippines - Transportation and Communications Secretary Manuel “Mar” Roxas II yesterday ordered the department’s 19 attached agencies to tighten security in all land, air and sea ports before nationwide celebrations commence to usher in the New Year.

The DOTC chief ordered all 19 agencies, including the Land Transportation Office (LTO), Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB), the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG), the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA), Maritime Industry Authority (Marina), the Light Rail Transit Authority (LRTA), Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA), Mactan-Cebu International Airport Authority (MCIAA), Office of Transportation Security (OTS), and the Philippine National Railways (PNR) to step up security and safety checks in the various air, sea and land ports, terminals and main thoroughfares and watch out for the traffic of banned fireworks and prohibited drugs.

The directive was in line with the department’s Oplan: Ligtas na Krismas campaign during the holiday season.

The DOTC and its attached agencies are said to be closely working with the Philippine National Police and its law enforcement arms, in an effort to crack down on the sale and transport of banned firecrackers whether by rail, road, sea and air.

Roxas said the DOTC and other agencies that regulate transportation all over the country will be “uncompromising in enforcing the law against the movement of dangerous firecrackers, pyrotechnics, as well as firearms that may be illegally discharged in the New Year’s Eve revelry.”

The DOTC and its attached agencies will be on the look out for people who may transport prohibited, but most-sought firecrackers such as Big Triangle, Super Lolo and equivalents, Mother Rocket, Five Star, Og, Pla-Pla, Pillbox, Goodbye Earth, and Atomic.

Prohibited drugs are also high on the list of the DOTC’s law enforcement officers.

On Dec. 18, security personnel of the Metro Rail Transit (MRT) nabbed a passenger who tried to bring on board the train at Cubao station over 1.5 kilos of marijuana. The man was accosted as he passed though the station’s baggage/screening area. He was later turned over to the Regional Public Safety Battalion of the PNP-National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO).

The DOTC also assured the public that random drug tests on public utility bus drivers will be administered from Jan. 1 to 3 as the rush of commuters going back to the metropolis from other provinces reaches its height.