Miriam bats for tighter safety regulations for public transpo
Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago yesterday pushed for the passage of at least two measures aimed at improving the government’s regulation on public transportation vehicles and related fixtures to protect commuters from undue risks.
Santiago said it is necessary for the government to maintain the safety of the riding public and should be the ultimate consideration in crafting transportation policies.
That is why, she said, she will file the Public Transport Preservation bill which seeks to impose stringent penalties for robbery of public transportation vehicles and other similar transports by amending Republic Act No. 3815 also known as the Penal Code, and the AntiFencing of Government Property bill, which will amend Presidential Decree No. 1612, which is known as the AntiFencing Law.
Under the Public Transport Preservation measure, penalties for robbery will be one degree higher than that is presently prescribed in the law if the crime involves pilferage of public transportation vehicles, spare parts, safety devices, fixtures, or equipment.
“The perennial issues of congestion, unreliability, and deterioration of our train systems must be addressed, but we must also ensure that any solution presented will not be for naught because of thieves who saw off train tracks and sell them for cheap,” Santiago said in a statement.
She noted that this was one of the reasons why the Philippine National Railway (PNR) had to suspend its operations after one of their trains was derailed in Makati City.
Some 50 passengers were hurt in the incident. Three persons who were suspected of stealing the railway’s joints, angle bars and rail clips were arrested.
PNP spokesperson Paul de Quiros said missing rail joints, angle bars, and rail clips, which were likely pilfered, had caused the derailment.
She said that while robbers see these items as mere scraps of metal, which they can sell for quick money, they are essential to the safety and proper functioning of our public transport system.
“As such, stealing them not only results in loss of property but more importantly, may cause the loss of lives,” Santiago said in the explanatory note of her bill.