Noynoy orders road safety upgrade

MANILA, Philippines - President Aquino ordered concerned government agencies yesterday to improve road safety standards amid successive fatal bus accidents.

Mr. Aquino said it might sound mundane but tragedies on the road must be avoided.

“Like the bus accident in Cebu where many were killed. I want to have the cause determined,” he said.

Mr. Aquino said those involved could not always reason out that faulty brakes caused the accidents. He said when he was a congressman, he would also ask why authorities would always attribute fires to faulty electrical wiring.

He said if this was true, then all the city, municipal and electrical engineers must be sleeping on the job “and no one gets charged for negligence of their function.”

Mr. Aquino said the police must find out what really happened to “lead us to the corrective actions that will prevent similar instances.”

Meanwhile, Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Secretary Rogelio Singson said he has ordered the upgrade of national roads all over the country following four accidents in Cebu in which 40 persons were killed and 86 others injured in a span of three weeks.  

“We need to upgrade the national roads. We have a budget from the Road Users Tax. Of the P10 billion budget, half has already been spent during the first half of the year so we only have P5 billion. But if needed, we would augment (the funds). This is critical because this involves the safety of the public,” Singson said. 

He said he made his first out-of-town trip Tuesday to Cebu, considered a “high priority” province because it is a tourist destination.

The road accidents took place on June 13, 21, 24 and July 3 in the municipalities of Balamban, Sogod and in Toledo City.

In one of the incidents, 21 Iranians died when the bus they rented to go to a beach resort plunged into a 50-foot ravine in Cansomoroy, Balamban.

Singson said that according to his initial inspection, the accidents were caused by human error and vehicle malfunctioning.

He added that while the national roads in Cebu complied with the national road standards, there is still room for improvement particularly on the installation of safety road signs and other measures. 

“It appeared that they were originally provincial roads when they were turned into national roads. The road bends are worse than the zigzag roads going to Baguio,” Singson said.

He added that in Cebu, it becomes foggy in the afternoon so there is a need to widen the bends and put reflectorized signs to alert the driver that he would have to make a road turn.

Singson said they would also have to replace the steel barriers with concrete ones and install rumble strips so the drivers and the passengers would not fall asleep during their travel.