5 years after passage of anti-drunk driving law, gov’t yet to purchase alcohol breath analyzer — DOTr exec

Five years since the Anti-Drunk and Drugged Driving Act or Republic Act 10586 has been enacted into law, the government has yet to purchase an alcohol breath analyzer (ABA) which can measure the level of blood alcohol concentration in a person’s body.

At a Senate hearing, Transportation Undersecretary Mark de Leon admitted that there is no budget for the procurement of breath analyzer.

“Supposed to be, the Department of Transportation meron tayo dapat annual budget on road safety, unfortunately naka-lodge ‘yan sa MVUC (motor vehicles users charge) fund which’ yung past Congress natin tinanggal yung road safety fund,” De Leon said during the hearing of the Senate committee on public services.

“So now, all of the funds are now going to engineering, ‘yung paggawa na natin ng kalsada. Wala po tayong annual fund, ni piso po on road safety,” he said.

He said the DOTr spearheaded a Philippine Road Safety Action Plan, a comprehensive action plan to address all road safety concerns, “unfortunately ni piso wala po tayong pondo.”

De Leon made the confirmation upon the questioning of Senator Grace Poe, committee chairperson, when advocates of road safety and road crash survivors lamented the lack of alcohol breath analyzer.

Erwin Paala, a road crash survivor, said several road accidents caused by drunk drivers that happened in the past years but the cases did not prosper because the traffic enforcers who responded to the incident were not able to test if the concerned driver was intoxicated or not.

“Hanggang ngayon wala pa ring alcohol breath analyzer.  Ang ginagamit sa inquest proceedings sa Jose Reyes (Memorial Medical Center) ay ‘yung lumang…maglalabas ng  tissue paper hihinga dun ang driver. Hindi yung ABA. Lahat nadi-dismiss because there was no evidence gathered,” he said.

He said what the traffic enforcers or police officers do is bring the drivers to the Jose Reyes Memorial Medical Center for the testing. 

“This year, five years na ang IRR (implementing rules and regulations) ng RA 10586 pero there is no implementation until today,” Paala added.

Poe said the concern can be raised when the Senate deliberate on the proposed 2020 budget of DOTR.

“Ngayon dahil panahon ng budget baka naman pwedeng paglaanan kahit na breath analyzer kasi importante ‘yun,” she said.

The Anti-Drunk and Drugged Driving Act of 2013 penalizes persons who drive under the influence of alcohol, dangerous drugs, and similar substances. — RSJ, GMA News