BY ISMAEL AMIGO,  1ST-APLUMA NATIONAL PRESIDENT


BETTER late than never? I don't think so.

I'm referring to the decision of concerned government agencies to impose stricter requirements for bus drivers, some of whom are wreaking havoc on main thoroughfares like their personal playground.

This is another case of knee-jerk reaction of government officials who just lie and wait for another life to be sacrificed before reacting instead of acting early to prevent disasters. An ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure, as we always say.

Now, the Department of Transportation and Communications and the Land Transportation Office (LTO) are requiring drivers to show a certification that they have undergone a road safety program from agencies such as the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA).

With his new policy, drivers will have to submit the certification before they can be allowed to drive public buses.

But these moves will not bring back to life the victims of recklessness of bus drivers. The damage has been done already and no amount of program could resurrect them from the dead.

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Sad to say, the Aquino government has no one to blame but itself. It could not blame the past administration for this mess as some of the worst bus accidents happened during its term.

In August last year, months after P-Noy assumed office, at least 35 people were killed after a bus plunged into a 100-meter ravine in Northern Luzon.

In December, at least four people were killed after a bus fell into a 50-foot ravine in Pagbilao town in Quezon province.

Last Sunday, seven people were killed along the Southern Tagalog Arterial Road when a bus rammed into a passenger jeepney.

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But just like DOTC and LTO, we are hoping that this knee-jerk move will prevent future road accidents involving buses and make our roads safe for motorists.

We are also hoping that transport groups will not meet this program with protests because the government only wants to reduce, if not totally eliminate, road accidents.

There’s no harm in cooperating. Please join the cause for a change.

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