President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. yesterday directed the Department of Transportation (DOTr) to “move decisively” to improve road safety following a recent spate of road accidents that have claimed at least 12 lives and injured 41 others in less than a week.
Mr. Marcos described the incidents as “tragedies that should never have happened.”
“Now, we will ensure they never happen again,” the president said in a statement.
Mr. Marcos directed DOTr Secretary Vince Dizon to identify those responsible and exact accountability.
Among the measures announced are a nationwide audit of bus operators, a review of driver licensing protocols, and stronger labor regulations aimed at curbing unsafe practices in the transport industry.
“Driver fatigue, long hours, and pressure to meet quotas should never put lives at risk,” Marcos said.
“We owe it to the victims and their families to act—not only with sympathy, but with resolve,” he added.
The president vowed the government would demand accountability and overhaul the transport system to better safeguard the public.
“These lives will not be lost in vain,” he said.
In a press briefing, Palace Press Officer Claire Castro said the chief executive is “deeply saddened” by the loss of life.
“That’s why, under the President’s directive, Secretary Dizon has already taken action—including a mandatory and immediate drug testing policy for public utility vehicle (PUV) drivers,” she added.
Castro was referring to Department Order No. 2025-008, which the DOTr issued on Monday.
It mandates that all Public Utility Vehicle (PUV) drivers, including motorcycle taxi riders, undergo regular drug testing before and during employment.
The operators and owners of the vehicles must shoulder the testing cost.
The DOTr order stipulates that operators must test their drivers’ alcohol concentration level using a breath analyzer or similar measuring instrument before employment, dispatch, deployment, or allowing the driver to operate their motor vehicle or motorcycle.
It also requires PUV operators to “ensure that the driver(s) carry a copy of the test result at all times while operating the vehicles.”
The government is also studying a policy to reduce the maximum driving hours for PUV drivers, in a bid to address driver fatigue as a critical safety issue.
“Excessive driving hours can impair a driver’s ability to operate a vehicle safely. The Department of Transportation will be reviewing how many hours are appropriate,” Castro said.
For his part, Dizon also recommended a revision of the maximum number of hours for PUV drivers to just four hours from six hours.
“Currently, it’s six hours, I am asking them to reduce it to four. This is consistent with other countries like the European Union and some countries in Asia like Vietnam,” he added.
“I also asked LTO [Land Transportation Office], together with LTFRB [Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board] to really make roadworthiness checks,” the DOTr chief added.
Meanwhile, the Land Transportation Office revoked the driver’s license of the bus driver involved in the fatal Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEX) road mishap.
LTO chief Vigor Mendoza II said the agency has imposed a lifetime ban against Solid North Transit bus driver Teodoro Merjan because he refused to undergo a drug test after the accident that killed 10 people and injured 37 others on May 1.
“We have already revoked his license with perpetual disqualification when he refused to take the drug test,” he said.
Still, the Philippine National Police (PNP) Forensic Unit managed to test Merjan for narcotics use, in which he tested negative for illegal drugs.
“The results for both tests were negative,” Tarlac City Police chief, Lieutenant Colonel Romel Santos, said in a statement.
“Screening tests conducted on the above-stated specimen gave a negative result to the test for the presence of Methamphetamine and THC metabolites, dangerous drugs,” the Tarlac Provincial Forensic Unit’s findings read.
As this developed, police filed criminal charges against the driver of a sports utility vehicle (SUV) that struck air travelers and well-wishers at the NAIA Terminal 1 on Sunday morning.
The driver faces charges of reckless imprudence resulting in two counts of homicide, multiple injuries, and property damage.
The 28-year-old suspect is currently detained at the Police Aviation Security Group’s Mobile Patrol Security Unit.
The incident resulted in the deaths of two people, including the five-year-old daughter of a departing overseas worker, while at least four others sustained injuries when the black Ford Everest ran them over in the departure area at around 8:05 a.m. on May 4.
Witnesses reported that the victims were with their families when the vehicle suddenly veered into the queue. Investigators said the SUV driver, whose name is still being withheld, claimed he lost control of the vehicle.
Airport authorities have turned their attention to the anti-ram security bollards intended to prevent vehicles from driving into the terminal’s departure area.
“The airport authority and the Transportation department are looking and examining the documents related to the installation of these metal bollards that are meant to protect the public,” an airport authority official told Manila Standard.
Sources indicated that the contract for the installation involved the Engineering Office of the Manila International Airport Authority and was made during the tenure of then-general manager Eddie Monreal and Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade.
“The bollards were insufficient to stop the vehicle, and we are investigating why this occurred,” the source explained.
Investigators reported that the wayward SUV hit at least one bollard, but it continued until it ran over the victims.