Unregulated bus companies
| AN OUTSIDERS VIEW |
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| Ken Fuller |
Concerned by the spate of fatal bus accidents earlier this year, Cavite Rep. Elpidio Barzaga Jr. has made the sensible suggestion that the Department of Labor and Employment (DoLE) investigate bus drivers’ working conditions, as he suspects that “lack of sleep and rest between long trips could be a key factor in the rash of road disasters.”
Reading his press release, it struck this outsider as curious, however, that while it makes sense for DoLE to examine the driving hours’ regime of each employer, Representative Barzaga made no call for the Department of Transport and Communications (DoTC) to ensure that the legislation on this matter is adequately enforced.
Back in July, Malaya columnist Dahli Aspillera wrote on the same subject, although she agreed with Cebu Rep. Eddie Gullas that rail needed to play a bigger role at the expense of buses, as she was convinced that the DoTC was incapable of effectively regulating the conduct of bus companies.
Aspillera told of a recent experience in which she and 40 other journalists were driven on a day-long tour, then conveyed to their hotel for dinner, followed by a six-hour night-time drive back to Manila, all with the same bus driver. Again, it struck me as curious that she questioned only the prudence, but not the legality, of this..... MORE
Source: The Daily Tribune
URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20101019com5.html
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