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The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) IX together with the DOLE Regional Tripartite Wages and Productivity Board (RTWBP) IX and other agencies have signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) on Road Safety which targets bus.

The MOA signing was held yesterday morning at a local hotel in this city. With this agreement, DOLE will come up the issuance of Labor Compliance Certificate on bus companies who complied the road safety standards of the agency.

"After the MOA signing, the office will be moving around the region to check on the bus companies and if the management complies with the standards a Labor Compliance Certificate will be given," said DOLE IX director Sisinio Cano.


Twenty one other agencies also signed the MOA to include the Bureau of Agricultural Statistics IX, Department of Interior and Local Government IX, DOLE, Department of Public Works and Highways IX, Department of Tourism IX, Department of Trade and Industries IX, Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board IX, Land Transportation Office IX, National Conciliation and Mediation Board IX, National Economic Development Authority IX, National Labor Relations Commission IX, National Statistical Coordination Board IX, National Statistics Office IX, Philippine Information Agency IX, PNP Highway Patrol Group IX, Philippine Public Safety Colleges IX, RTWBP, Technical Education Skills Development Authority IX, bus drivers, operators, conductors, and Zampen Occupational Safety and Health Network.

According to Cano, the move was made to address several issues regarding road safety especially on bus drivers and for the safety of the general public.

The focus was on bus because they do long drive such as Zamboanga City to Pagadian, Dipolog, and Cagayan De Oro.

It was also stressed by the official that bus drivers should only work for a period of eight hours and four hours overtime.

The MOA was signed to emphasize the role of the stakeholders and what will be done to address road safety.

At present, there are five bus companies in Region 9, according to the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulator Board (LTFRB).

A technical working group was formed to conduct a survey on bus, evaluate the result, and come up with an action plan to address the issues.

In Manila bus transportations are catching up with passengers because they are being paid by commission which sometimes results to accidents.

The survey will be conducted in Zamboanga Peninsula to check if the situation in Manila is the same here in this region.

By R.G. Antonet Go