Rather than simply investigating the fatal van crash that killed seven balikbayan medical practitioners in Alegria town last Saturday, the Cebu provincial government should crack down and shut down operators that don’t comply with basic safety requirements and guidelines.
Cebu Vice Gov. Agnes Magpale’s disclosure that the van used to transport the balikbayans from the US wasn’t accredited with the Department of Tourism (DOT) is something of an eye-opener on the laxity, at least on the local level, in enforcing any laws or requirements for tourist transportation.
In fact, the Provincial Board (PB) is investigating the incident in order to include amendments in its Provincial Tourism Code that would govern the regulation of vehicles used for transporting tourists in the province.
Why it was only considered now and not before last week’s tragedy happened is something of a testament on the lack of anticipation on the PB’s part and by extension to the provincial government.
We wonder if the DOT requirements for accredited vehicles bearing the rainbow plated license plates had been enforced and required by the Provincial Tourism Office from all local tour operators.
The balikbayans who came from Oslob town and swam with the whale sharks then headed for Kawasan Falls in Badian town were fetched and driven by Gilbert dela Cruz, who was contracted by a Manila-based tour group.
As such, the local tourist offices had probably no way of knowing about the trip unless they were informed beforehand by the Manila tour group, which we suspect is unlikely since both the DOT and the Provincial Tourism Office would have done better and assign an accredited driver/operator to the group.
Dela Cruz was said to be tired after sleeping only a few hours for the past few days prior to fetching the 10 balikbayans from Oslob town. And he couldn’t have picked a worse time to fall asleep than behind the wheel with several tourists on board, entrusting their safety in his hands.
A few of the Cebu-based tourist transport operators interviewed by Cebu Daily News said they never allow their drivers to work for more than 15 hours a day so they could rest.
They also admitted that some drivers overwork to cope with monthly expenses and in Dela Cruz’s case, he had to work overtime since he is both owner and operator of the van boarded by the medical practitioners.
Even without an existing law, it is but common sense for tourist officials to monitor and strictly require tour agencies to hire only accredited transport agencies and operators to fetch tourists in order to ensure their safety.
As it is, last Saturday’s fatal accident is a costly lesson for the province government, which needs to go beyond making laws and has to make sure that their guests, domestic, foreign and balikbayans, get to enjoy touring the province safely.
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