ILIGAN CITY (8 September 2020) — Iligan City Rep. Frederick W. Siao plans to push for permanently recording all traffic violations and road safety incidents to ensure that culpable individuals are held responsible for their actions.
“Every day, we have many road crash incidents, hit-and-run, and traffic violations which are not recorded either on CCTV recordings or blotters. This means, those culpable are not held responsible,” he said in a written statement.
He cited as an example the recent hit-and-run incident that killed the nurse frontliner Renz Perez.
“Nabangga niya si Perez habang nagbibisikleta pero imbes na tinulungan, tinakasan niya ang kawawang frontliner,” said Siao.
(He hit Perez, who was riding his bike, but instead of helping him, he left the poor frontliner.)
He added that every recording and monitoring system will be linked to the Land Transportation Office (LTO) and Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) to assist the said agencies in determining who should be allowed to drive on roads. Not recording traffic violations and road safety incidents by the assigned enforcers and officials will be subject to administrative, civil, and criminal action.
Such incidents and violations, Siao further added, should still be recorded despite the concerned parties agreeing on an amicable settlement because “such incidents are a matter of public safety, public health, and public policy” and are “not private incidents of the kind which are not subject to law enforcement.”
“Hindi iyan makatarungan sapagkat hindi nito naiaalis sa kalsada ang mga iresponsable o incompetent na motoristang wala na dapat lisensiya para magmaneho ng anumang sasakyan,” he said.
(That is not fair for it does not take the irresponsible or incompetent individuals who shouldn’t have licenses to drive anymore off our streets.)
As part of this system, he suggested installing user-friendly mobile apps for incident reporting on the smartphones of barangay officials and tanods.
Lastly, Siao said that LTO permits should be required for those who own, use, or buy electric scooters since these scooters can be just as deadly as bicycles if driven irresponsibly.
Siao is the chairperson of the Committee on Civil Service and Professional Regulation and the author of House Bill 1987 or the Philippine Responsible Driving and Accountability Act. ###